Complaints

The request was successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Pre-question clarification: A complaint against a council may consist purely on an administrative error or it may also include a potentially criminal act and/or infringements of a complainants civil rights (legal and/or human rights).

Therefore, I would like the following information, over the last 12 months, as a percentage of total complaints against the council how many ended up being dealt with by,

1)the Local Government Ombudsman?

2)the Police?

3)Solicitors and/or the courts?

Yours faithfully,

Trevor R Nunn

Sent request to Alnwick District Council again, using a new contact address.

Masson, Neil,

Dear Mr Nunn

Thank you for your request dated 17th October 2008. I will be the
officer handling your request and may be contacted by telephone on 01665
511215 should you have any questions or concerns about your request.

A final decision on your request would normally be sent to you within 4
weeks. A week is defined in the Act to mean 5 consecutive weekdays,
excluding Saturdays and public holidays (Sundays are also excluded, as
they are not weekdays). This means that you can expect a decision letter
to issue from this Department/Body not later than 14th October 2008.

There are some limited situations under the FOI Act which could mean
that the period for a final decision may be longer than the normal four
weeks. If this occurs in the case of your request, I will promptly
advise you by E-mail.

Should our final decision not reach you on time, please feel free to
call me to discuss any problems that may have arisen. If you have not
heard from us once the allotted time has expired, you are automatically
entitled to make a complaint to the Council. This will be dealt with
under the Council's Official Complaints Procedure. The complaint will be
dealt with by a more senior member of staff of the Council.

In the event that you need to make such a complaint, you can do so by
writing to the Chief Executive, Alnwick District Council, Allerburn
House, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1YY or alternatively by sending an
e-mail to [email address]. You should state that you are
complaining because an initial decision was not sent to you within the
time permitted.

Yours sincerely

Neil J Masson
Assistant Solicitor

show quoted sections

Masson, Neil,

Dear Mr Nunn

Thank you for your request dated 17th October 2008 I will be the
officer handling your request and may be contacted by telephone on 01665
511215 should you have any questions or concerns about your request.

A final decision on your request would normally be sent to you within 4
weeks. A week is defined in the Act to mean 5 consecutive weekdays,
excluding Saturdays and public holidays (Sundays are also excluded, as
they are not weekdays). This means that you can expect a decision letter
to issue from this Department/Body not later than 14th November 2008.

There are some limited situations under the FOI Act which could mean
that the period for a final decision may be longer than the normal four
weeks. If this occurs in the case of your request, I will promptly
advise you by E-mail.

Should our final decision not reach you on time, please feel free to
call me to discuss any problems that may have arisen. If you have not
heard from us once the allotted time has expired, you are automatically
entitled to make a complaint to the Council. This will be dealt with
under the Council's Official Complaints Procedure. The complaint will be
dealt with by a more senior member of staff of the Council.

In the event that you need to make such a complaint, you can do so by
writing to the Chief Executive, Alnwick District Council, Allerburn
House, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1YY or alternatively by sending an
e-mail to [email address]. You should state that you are
complaining because an initial decision was not sent to you within the
time permitted.

Yours sincerely

Neil J Masson
Assistant Solicitor

show quoted sections

Masson, Neil,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Nunn

Further to your attached freedom of information request I can now respond
as follows:

1) 28.57%

2) None

3) None

Regards

Neil Masson

<<1.Request.txt>>

Please note that this information is for the financial year 2007-2008 (as
this is how these figures are recorded). So far since 1st April 2008 we
have had 15 complaints, one of which so far has been referred to the
ombusman.

Neil Masson
Assistant Solicitor
Alnwick District Council
Tel: 01665 511215
[email address]