Complaints Procedure
Dear Durham County Council,
A link on the council website (http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.a...) purports to set out the council's complaints procedure as follows:
"Durham County Council prides itself on providing
services of the highest quality. You can help us shape
these services by letting us know your thoughts.
Please use this online form if you do need to make a
complaint (in using this form you are agreeing to
the 'consent to the uses and disclosures' found at the
foot of this page)."
I should be grateful if the council can answer the following questions:
1. How many stages has the council's complaints procedure?
2. How is each stage initiated (e.g., by telephone, fax, website, by letter)?
3. How are complaints progressed at each stage?
4. What are timescales for each stage?
5. What are contact addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email and website addresses for these stages?
6. What provision does the council make for access to the complaints system for people who:
a. Do not have Internet access?
b. Do not have a telephone?
c. Do not have sufficient (or indeed any) literacy
skills to make or escalate a complaint in writing?
d. Who have learning difficulties or disabilities that
impair their ability to communicate?
7. How is complaint handling performance reviewed at each stage PRIOR to review by the Standards Committee?
8. Why is the full complaints procedure setting out the information requested here not published on the council's website?
Yours faithfully,
John Bord
Our Ref: 3125261
12-JAN-10
Dear Mr Bord,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
I acknowledge your request for information received on 11-JAN-2010.
Your request is being considered and if the information requested is held
by the County Council it will be sent to you within the statutory
timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act
2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a
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If you have any queries or concerns then please contact:
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Coordinator
Durham County Council
Assistant Chief Executive's Office
Room 4/10
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Tel: 0191 383 3815
Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
Neale Boswell
Freedom of Information Team
Our Ref: 3125261
20-JAN-10
Dear Mr Bord,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Your request for information on Durham County Council's complaints
procedure, received on 11-JAN-2010, has now been considered.
You requested: 1. How many stages has the council's complaints procedure?
Our response: 2
You requested: 2. How is each stage initiated (e.g., by telephone, fax,
website, by letter)?
Our response: By any preferred means: web, fax, letter, face to face,
telephone, complaint leaflet, minicom and third party
You requested: 3. How are complaints progressed at each stage?
Our response: Stage 1 is dealt with by service area, Stage 2 investigation
is led by the Corporate Complaints Unit.
You requested: 4. What are timescales for each stage?
Our response: Stage 1: 10 working days, Stage 2: 20 working days
You requested: 5. What are contact addresses, telephone and fax numbers,
email and website addresses for these stages?
Our response: Any Durham County Council office can be contacted but the
postal address is: Durham County Council, Green lane, Spennymoor, DL16
6JQ. Telephone no: 0300 123 7070. [1]www.durham.gov.uk
You requested: 6. What provision does the council make for access to the
complaints system for people who:
a. Do not have Internet access? See answer to Question 2
b. Do not have a telephone? See answer to Question 2
c. Do not have sufficient (or indeed any) literacy skills to make or
escalate a complaint in writing? See answer to Question 2
d. Who have learning difficulties or disabilities that impair their
ability to communicate? See answer to Question 2
You requested: 7. How is complaint handling performance reviewed at each
stage PRIOR to review by the Standards Committee?
Our response: Through escalation.
You requested: 8. Why is the full complaints procedure setting out the
information requested here not published on the council's website?
Our response: Procedure is currently under review and it's planned to be
published on the council's website within the next two weeks.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact:
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Coordinator
Durham County Council
Assistant Chief Executive's Office
Room 4/10
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Tel: 0191 383 3815
Email: [2][Durham County Council request email]
After you have exhausted our internal appeals procedure you also have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: [email address]
Most of the documents that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most
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Yours sincerely,
Neale Boswell
Freedom of Information Team
Dear Neale Boswell,
Your reference: 3125261
I noted from your response dated 20 January 2010 to my FOI request of the above reference, to my question:
"Why is the full complaints procedure setting out the information requested here not published on the council's website?";
your response was:
"Procedure is currently under review and it's planned to be published on the council's website within the next two weeks".
I note that the complaints procedure has yet to be published as indicated.
Has the procedure which was previously secret, now been revised?
If so, I should be grateful if you provided the revised procedure.
Yours sincerely,
John Bord
Dear Mr. Boswell,
Your reference: 3125261
I am writing to request an internal review of Durham County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Complaints Procedure'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...
I note that the council's document entitled "Working with you to put things right" describes the elements of the complaints procedure in a different way to your reply that is indicative of a single tier procedure.
You will understand my confusion.
Yours faithfully,
John Bord
Dear Mr Bord
Thank you for your email of 15 February 2010 regarding our response to
your Freedom of Information request on the Council's complaints procedure.
I note that you are confused about the information given in our reply to
your request, and that which appears on the Council's website.
In your request, you asked how many stages the Council's complaints
procedure had. You were advised in reply that the Council's Corporate
Complaints Procedure was a 2 stage process - stage 1 being dealt with by
the relevant service area and stage 2 being considered by the Corporate
Complaints Unit. The Corporate Complaints Procedure is available on the
Council's website at
[1]http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.a... under the
heading 'How we handle complaints', and details the 2 stage process,
prior to referral to the Local Government Ombudsman.
In addition, the Council operates a Statutory Complaints Procedure. The
Statutory Adult Social Care procedure has only one stage before referral
to the LGO Details of this procedure are also available on the website at
[2]http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.a....
I hope that this clarifies the situation, however, should you still wish
an internal review of our initial response, please let me know.
Kind regards
David
David Walker
Assistant Chief Executive's Department
Durham County Council
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Tel: 0191 383 4215
VPN: 7700 4215
Email: [Durham County Council request email]
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