Record keeping and complaints
24.1 The Council has established its own Complaints Procedure. Complaints are first investigated within the Department by an Officer more senior than the Case Officer. If the complaint cannot be resolved within the Department it will be escalated in accordance with the Council’s Complaints Procedure.
24.2 So that complaints may be fully investigated and, in any case, as a matter of general good practice, record keeping should be complete and accurate. Omissions and inaccuracies could, in themselves, cause a complaint or undermine the Council’s case. It is not possible to keep a full note of every meeting and conversation. However, the guiding rule is that every case file should contain an account of the main events throughout its life. It should be possible for someone not involved with that application to understand what the decision was and how and why it was reached.
- The main source of this documentation will be the Officer report to Committee and, if the Committee does not agree the recommendation, the Committee minutes
- For delegated applications, a formal note of the main planning considerations is written and kept on file
- These principles apply equally to enforcement and Development Plan matters. • All Committee reports and delegated decision reports will be checked and agreed by the Planning and Development Manager
- A written note should be kept of all potentially contentious meetings and telephone conversations: this may be in the form of a follow-up letter. Whilst it will be impossible to keep a full note of every meeting, conversation and site visit, a record should be kept of significant events and site visits which have taken place. The extent of the note should be in proportion to the significance of the event.