Appendix 1: The Complaints Process

The Council has a two-stage procedure that is designed to support the effective management and resolution of complaints.

Stage 1

If you wish to make a complaint, we would like to hear from you as soon as possible so we can investigate and resolve your complaint. We encourage residents to provide an explanation so that we have a clear record to assist with our enquiries. You will need to provide us as much information as possible, including the following:

What do you think was gone wrong
What impact has this had on you
The impact to you and your family
The action would you like us to take

On receipt of a complaint, we will acknowledge it within five working days setting out our understanding of the complaint and the outcomes being sought. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, we will ask you for clarification.

The relevant service area will investigate your complaint and will respond within ten working days from the acknowledgement date.

If you raise additional related complaints during the stage 1 investigation and the response has not been issued, we will incorporate these in the original stage 1 complaint. If the response has been issued or the issues are unrelated or it would unreasonably delay the response, we will log as a new complaint.

The stage 1 response timescale may be extended for a further ten working days if the matter is complex and further time is necessary. In this case, we will inform you explaining the reasons and provide the details of the relevant Ombudsman.

On completion of the investigation, the Head of Service will reach a conclusion, based on their findings, determine whether they have found fault, and notify you if the complaint is:

Upheld.
Partially upheld
Not upheld.

In our response to you, we will explain the reasons for our decision, provide details of any remedies (if appropriate), provide details of any outstanding actions and how to escalate to stage 2 if you remain dissatisfied.

The aim of the stage 1 investigation is to provide you with a fair and satisfactory resolution to your complaint. However, if all or part of the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction at stage 1, the complaint can be progressed to stage 2 of our complaints process. That is, unless there are valid reasons not to do so, in which case we will explain the reasons for our decision.

When making a stage 2 complaint, we ask that you explain to us in what way you believe that your complaint was not addressed properly at Stage 1.

Stage 2

When we receive your request for an escalation of a complaint to stage 2 of our process, we will acknowledge this within five working days of receipt, setting out our understanding of the complaint and the desired outcome.

The relevant service area will investigate your complaint and respond within twenty days.

This will be a different person from the stage 1 investigation.

We may decide that additional time is necessary if the complaint is complex and we will extend the time scales for a response for a further twenty working days. We will notify you if an extension is necessary and inform you of the reasons. At the same time, we will provide you with details of the relevant Ombudsman.

On completion of the investigation, the Assistant Director or Director will reach a conclusion, based on their findings, determine whether they have found fault, and notify you if the complaint is:

Upheld
Partially upheld
Not upheld.

In our response to you, we will explain the reasons for our decision, provide details of any remedies (if appropriate), provide details of any outstanding actions and let you know how to escalate to the relevant Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied as the stage 2 response is our final response.

The request for a further review will be handled by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman Service. (Please see point 9. Ombudsman Resolution - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) complaints on page 11 for more information).

Putting things right

When something has gone wrong, we will acknowledge this and set out the actions we have already taken or intend to take to put things right. These can include:

Apologising
Acknowledging where things have gone wrong
Providing an explanation, assistance or reasons
Taking action if there has been a delay
Reconsidering or changing a decisionCorporate Complaints, Comments and Compliments Policy (May 2024)
Amending a record or adding a correction or addendum
Changing policies, procedures or practices.

Some actions may not be completed when we respond to your complaint and we will explain which actions are outstanding and when they will be completed within the response letter.

Representatives

We encourage residents to contact us directly. However, we can accept complaints from a representative on behalf of someone else, such as friends, solicitors, advice agencies or advocacy workers. We will require written permission along with any necessary identification from the complainant to ensure that we comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 that incorporates implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (see Form B). You also have the opportunity to be represented or accompanied at any meeting with us.

How to complain, make a comment or compliment

There are a number of ways that you can submit complaints, comments or compliments, including an online form on the Council’s website, by e-mail and by phone. The contact details are as follows:

Online complaints and comments: www.hounslow.gov.uk/complain

Online compliments

E-mail: feedback@hounslow.gov.uk

Phone: 020 8583 5211

In writing to:

Customer Relations Team

London Borough of Hounslow

Hounslow House

7 Bath Road

Hounslow, TW3 3EB

You can raise your complaint with any member of the staff, and they will pass details of the complaint to the Customer Relations Team. Although we can receive complaints by telephone, we always encourage residents to submit their complaints in writing. This is so that we have all the details of the complaint, in your own words, which will avoid any possibility of misinterpretation by the person receiving the complaint.

If you have difficulty in making a complaint, such as a disability, please let us know so we can consider our duties under the Equality Act and make reasonable adjustments to access the complaint process.Corporate Complaints, Comments and Compliments Policy (May 2024)

Ombudsman Resolution – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) Complaints

If, following an investigation of your complaint at Stage 2 of the Council’s complaint process you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer your complaint to the LGSCO or the HOS.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The LGSCO is an independent organisation which investigates complaints about maladministration against councils.

Their contact details are:

http://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint

The Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

Telephone: 0300 061 0614

Although you can take seek resolution from the LGSCO at any stage of a complaint, the Local Government Act 1974 requires that the Ombudsman allows the Council the opportunity to investigate a complaint through its own complaints policy before carrying out an independent investigation.

Housing Ombudsman

The Housing Ombudsman is an independent organisation which investigates complaints relating to tenant and leaseholder matters and landlord functions.

Their contact details are:

http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

Housing Ombudsman Service

PO Box 152

Liverpool

L33 7WQ

Telephone: 0300 111 3000

Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

If the LGSCO or HOS does become involved, all further contact about the complaint will be through the Council’s Customer Relations Team, who will co-ordinate the investigation and response to the LGSCO or HOS.

When we receive a complaint from the LGSCO or HOS, we will notify the relevant senior manager to ensure that they are aware of the issues and can take appropriate action to resolve them.

Both Ombudsman have a joint Complaint Handling Code and details can be found at the following links:Corporate Complaints, Comments and Compliments Policy (May 2024)

Complaint Handling Code 2024 - Housing Ombudsman

Complaint Handling Code - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Complaints about discrimination

The Council is committed to equal opportunities for everyone who uses or receives Council services, but if you believe that you have been discriminated against, you have the right to make a complaint.

Discrimination means treating you unfairly because of who you are. The Council is required by law, the Equality Act 2010, to treat everyone fairly and equally. This law protects you against discrimination on the basis of one of the following protected characteristics:

Age
Disability
Sexual orientation
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex

Complaints about discrimination by the Council will be dealt with under this policy by the relevant Head of Service, who may need to seek advice and guidance from the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

If you have a complaint about discrimination by the Council, please contact the Customer Relations Team. If your complaint is about a third party such as a Council appointed provider of a service, please use their complaints policy and complain directly to them in the first instance.

In order for us to deal with your complaint, you will need to provide details of your complaint and the basis on which you believe that you have been discriminated against. Nobody is treated differently because they have made a complaint. If they believe they have been, please let us know.

Unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complaints

In some cases, complaints are pursued in a way which can either impede the investigation of a complaint, or the resident’s behaviour becomes unreasonable.

We do not expect staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour by residents.

We will take action to protect staff from such unreasonable behaviour. The Council has a policy that covers unreasonable or unreasonably persistent behaviour by residents and details can be found in the Corporate Complaints, Comments and Compliments Policy (May 2024)

We will not discriminate against anyone who makes a complaint. We will seek to manage the behaviour under the unreasonable and persistent complaints behaviour policy as necessary, while treating the complaint like any other.

Confidentiality

We will deal with all communication from residents in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The identity of the person contacting us will be made known only to those who need to know in order for us to deal with the communication effectively and will not be made public by the Council.