Customer Feedback and Complaints Policy

Exclusions and complaints not covered by this policy

There may be several reasons why the Council cannot accept your complaint, however each complaint will be considered on its own merit, and we will not take a blanket approach to excluding complaints. If the Council decides not to accept your complaint, we will clearly explain the reasons why and tell you of your other possible options. We will also inform you of your right to take our decision to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Possible reason for exclusion

  • Service request

Service requests will not be dealt with under this procedure. If received service requests will be directed to the relevant service area for consideration.An example of a service request is reporting a pothole or streetlight to be fixed or fly tipping to be cleared.

  • Concluded or complaints older than 12 months

Complaints which have already been fully investigated by the Council and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will not be dealt with under this procedure.Complaints made 12 months or more after the date of the issue or the date of the complainant becoming aware of the issue will not usually be investigated. In some circumstances this time limit may be extended.

  • Decision on Council Policy

Complaints about the council’s policies and about decisions made by elected members at council meetings do not fall within the remit of this procedure. However, complaints are sometimes made to officers about decisions made by the council and its decision-making bodies. These complaints will be recorded and forwarded to the relevant policy committee chair and the complainant informed that this has been done. A substantive response should then be made to the complainant by the relevant policy committee chair.

  • Interaction between this policy and other complaints processes

The Customer Feedback and Complaints Policy does not cover complaints which are already covered by statutory processes set out in law or other guidance. For example, this may include Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care, Public Health and Housing Management. Where a complaint includes something that is covered by a statutory complaints process then the whole complaint will be dealt with under the statutory process, unless the points of complaint can be easily separated and responded to separately.

  • Schools and Academies

Each school must have a procedure in place to deal with complaints. Complaints procedures may vary from school to school, but these should be made available upon request. The Council has no power to investigate a complaint about the internal management of a school. Further information on school complaints can be obtained from the Department for Education | Complain about a school

  • Data Breaches and FOI’s

Complaints regarding Data Protection will be dealt with under the Council's Access to Information page on our website. If you are unhappy with the response to your FOI, you can request an internal review and escalate to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you remain unhappy.

  • Legal proceedings

If legal action is being taken either by yourself or by the Council, the Council may not deal with your complaint if it is considered that to do so would prejudice the conduct of those proceedings. There may also be circumstances where a complaint may need to be put on hold until after the legal proceedings have taken place. In either case, you will be informed of the Council's decision.

  • Existing appeals process

The Council will not deal with complaints under this procedure regarding services where there are existing appeals processes. You will be advised of the relevant appeals process and given details of how to make an appeal. An example of this may be the school admissions panel who deal with matters of dissatisfaction regarding decisions on school placements.

  • Employee conduct or behaviour

Complaints about members of staff either in isolation or as a wider complaint can be submitted by emailing: customer.comments@hartlepool.gov.uk. These will be investigated however, depending on the nature of the complaint about the member of staff, it may not be possible to share with you the full details of the investigation and outcome.

  • Elected Members
    • Complaints about Councillors are reviewed under the Council's Code of Conduct for Members. More information can be found on the Council’s website.
  • Complaints about others e.g. utilities, other government bodies or private businesses.  These complaints are not covered by this procedure and those companies or government departments should be approached directly to make a complaint.
  • Social Media - The Council will not respond formally to complaints which have been uploaded to any social media platform. Please use the contact details outlined below to make a complaint.
  • Anonymous Complaints 
    • Anonymous complaints (i.e. where individuals do not provide their name or contact details) may be investigated. However, it will not be possible to provide a response. If an anonymous complaint does not provide enough information to enable the Council to investigate or to take further action, the Council will not investigate. Investigation may not possible if the impact on the individual raising the complaint nor identify whether there are any conflicts of interest or other ongoing action such as appeals or court action etc.Anonymous noise complaints cannot be investigated.
  • Groups of people who may not raise a complaint
    • For example, complaints made on behalf of another public body e.g. parish council, NHS Trust, government department. The complaints process is not an appropriate route to resolve disputes between public bodies. However, members of other public bodies may raise complaints in a personal capacity or on behalf of an individual or group of individuals. 
    • For example, complaints from local Councillors or Members of Parliament (MPs) about issues of wider public interest. These are best addressed through local “member enquiry” processes.
  • Enforcement Conduct Board (EBC)
    • Complaints regarding enforcement services maybe be more appropriately dealt with via the Enforcement Conduct Board.If you make a complaint regarding the actions of an enforcement service, the Council will advise what the most appropriate process is for you to follow.