Overview
Oxford City Council welcomes feedback that will help to improve Council services.
Citizens can make a comment, compliment or complaint about any aspect of a service provided by the Council, including services provided by the Council’s wholly owned companies on behalf of the Councils Oxford Direct Services Limited and Oxford Direct Services Trading Limited, Oxford City Housing Limited and its subsidariesThe Council also welcomes feedback about its role or actions taken in respect of the joint ventures in which the Council is a partner:
- OxWED LL
- Barton Oxford LLP
- SERCO
- Out of Hours operations
- Enforcement Agents
- OX Place
The Council is committed to learning from comments, compliments and complaints and to responding to complaints fairly, consistently and in a timely fashion.
This procedure sets out how the Council will treat and act upon comments, compliments and complaints.
Complaints about councillors are dealt with by a separate procedure. Please see our standards and conduct arrangements for councillors.
How to make a comment, compliment or complaint
Feedback can be provided to the relevant Council service directly or by contacting the Council in the following ways.
In writing: Complaint HUB’s, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX
By telephone: 01865 249811
What is a comment?
A comment is any feedback or suggestion that will help to shape and improve Council services. There is no obligation for the Council to respond to comment .
What is a compliment?
A compliment is an expression of praise about the Council or anyone providing a service on behalf of the Council. For example, where Council staff, services, policies and procedures have exceeded expectations. There is no obligation on the Council to respond to compliments.
What is a complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the Council, its staff, or those acting on behalf of the Council, affecting an individual citizen or group of citizens.
What is a service request?
Complaints and service requests can be closely related. A service request is a request for a service made for the first time, where it couldn't be reasonably expected that this should already have been actioned.
When assessing whether to treat a contact as a complaint or a service request each case will be considered on its individual merits, and consideration may be given to the following factors. This list is not exhaustive:
- Whether the customer has been made aware of the complaints procedure and has identified their contact as being a complaint
- What the expression of dissatisfaction is about
- The tone of the correspondence
- What the customer would like to happen next
- Whether the matter has already been treated as a service request
What will not be treated as a complaint under this procedure?
The following matters will not be dealt with as separate procedures apply - this list is not exhaustive:
- service requests e.g. initial reporting of a missed bin collection
- complaints about matters that have already exhausted our complaints procedure or have already been investigated by the relevant ombudsman, unless there is substantially new and different information that is material to the complaint and would warrant a reconsideration
- complaints about historic matters i.e. issues that were known about for more than 12 months before a complaint was submitted to the Council, unless there is a good reason for the delay
- complaints about councillors are subject to a separate standards and conduct arrangements for councillors
- issues raised by councillors should be addressed to the service (or for ODS services, the Contact Centre) in the first instance and may be escalated to the relevant senior officer
- any potential data breaches should be reported to dataprotection@oxford.gov.uk
- any complaints about the outcome of a Freedom of Information request, a Subject Access Request or an Environmental Information Request - there is a separate process of internal review by the Monitoring Officer and then escalation to the Information Commissioner’s Office
- insurance claims should be reported to the service in the first instance
- objections to planning applications to be determined by the authority - these will be treated as representations on that planning application
- complaints raised by employees will be dealt with under the relevant employment policy
- concerns raised under the Council’s Whistle Blowing Policy (Part 25 of the Constitution)
- complaints about other local authorities, including parish councils, should be directed to that local authority
Who can make a complaint?
The Council will accept complaints from anyone who has used or been affected by a service provided by or on behalf of the Council. The Council will also accept complaints from anyone who is acting on behalf of a service user with their knowledge and consent.
Anonymous complaints may be dealt with under this procedure at the discretion of the Council.
Reasonable adjustments
Anyone is welcome to make a comment, compliment or complaint and the Council is committed to treating everyone fairly. If a complainant requires any particular assistance they are advised to let the Council know and state what assistance is required. This may include, for example, the provision of information in alternative formats (e.g. large print), the use of a language service, or communication through a representative.
How will complaints be dealt with?
Once the Council has assessed a contact as being a complaint under this procedure the complaint will be handled in accordance with the following stages.
Stage 1
The Council will aim to acknowledge receipt of a complaint within five working days and in doing so will advise on what will be investigated and the expected timeframe for providing a response.
The relevant department will provide evidence to the Investigating Officer who will act independently, with authority and autonomy to act to resolve disputes promptly and fairly. The Investigating Officer will make their own enquiries and will have access to all levels to facilitate the prompt resolution of complaints.
A written response will normally be provided within ten working days from the date on the acknowledgement letter. If this is not possible, an explanation of the need for an extension and a revised timescale for the initial response will be provided to the complainant. This should not exceed a further 10 workings days without good reason. Reason(s) will be explained.
Where something has gone wrong, Oxford City Council will acknowledge this and set out the actions it has already taken or intends to take, to put things right. This can include:
- Apologising
- Acknowledging where things have gone wrong
- Providing an explanation, assistance and/or reasons
- Taking action if there has been delay
- Reconsidering or changing a decision
- Amending a record or adding a correction or addendum
- Providing a financial remedy
- Changing policies, procedures or practices. Any remedy offered will reflect the impact as a result of any fault identified. The remedy offered will clearly set out what will happen and by when. The Citizen will be informed of any remedy that cannot be delivered
Stage 2
If all or part of the complaint response is not resolved to the complainant's satisfaction at Stage 1; it should be progressed to Stage 2 which is the Council's final response.
Stage 2 complaints are acknowledged within 5 working days, setting out our understanding of any outstanding issues and the outcomes being pursued. If there is any element that is unclear the complainant will be asked for clarification.
Citizens do not need to explain their reasons for requesting a Stage 2; however, reasonable effort will be made to understand why the Citizen remains dissatisfied.
The Investigating Officer considering the Stage 2 Complaint will not be the same person who considered the complaint at Stage 1.
A final response to the Stage 2 will be sent to the complainant within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. If this is not possible, an explanation of the need for an extension and a revised timescale for the initial response will be provided to the complainant. This should not exceed a further 20 workings days without good reason. Reason(s) will be explained.
In our final response we will provide:
- The complaint stage
- Oxford City Council’s understanding of the complaint
- The decision on the complaint
- The reasons for any decisions made
- The details of any remedy offered to put things right
- Details of any outstanding actions
- Details on how to escalate the matter to the Ombudsman if the individual remains dissatisfied
Ombudsman
The Council expects that most complaints will be resolved within the two stages described above.
If, having exhausted this procedure, a complainant feels that their complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily, they can refer the matter to the relevant ombudsman service for an independent investigation.
For complaints about the Council as a registered provider of social housing:
Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET
Housing Ombudsman Service website.
For all other complaints:
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Local Government Ombudsman website.
Once this procedure has been exhausted the Council will not reopen a complaint or consider a substantially similar complaint from or on behalf of the same complainant without good reason.
Reasonable and unreasonable behaviour
It is reasonable to complain to the Council and to express criticism of the Council. All complainants can expect to be treated with respect and to have their concerns considered fairly. It is also reasonable to escalate a complaint under this procedure.
It is not reasonable to be threatening or abusive towards Council staff or those acting on behalf of the Council. It is also not reasonable to persistently pursue a matter that has already been addressed.
The Council has adopted the Local Government Ombudsman’s definition for unreasonable or unreasonably persistent complainants:
"Unreasonable and unreasonably persistent complainants are those complainants who, because of the nature or frequency of their contacts with an organisation, hinder the organisation’s consideration of their, or other people’s, complaints."
Managing unreasonable behaviour and vexatious complaints
The Council may take proportionate action to protect its staff and those acting on behalf of the Council from members of the public who are acting in a way that is considered to be abusive, threatening, unreasonable, unreasonably persistent or vexatious.
Before taking such action the Council must be satisfied that the complainant’s personal circumstances have been properly considered, including any equalities issues. The Council must explain to the complainant why their behaviour is a cause for concern and what actions the Council may take if the behaviour does not change.
If the behaviour does not change the Council may take reasonable and proportionate action on a time limited basis (normally limited to a maximum of 6 months). This may include the following types of action - this list is not exhaustive:
- Limiting a complainant to one form of contact (e.g. telephone or email)
- Requiring a complainant to direct all communication to a single point of contact (e.g. a named officer or a shared mailbox)
- Requiring contact to take place on specified dates and times
- Not responding to further correspondence that does not include substantially new and different information
Where a complaint has exhausted the stages of the complaints procedure and / or has been investigated by the ombudsman, the complainant will be informed in writing that the Council considers the matter to be closed.
In extreme cases where the behaviour does not improve the Council may decide to cease contact with the complainant and to refer the matter to the ombudsman, circumventing the normal two stage complaints process.
Where unreasonable behaviour is considered to be so extreme that it poses a threat to the safety of staff, or is potentially unlawful, the Council may contact the Police or take legal action without first notifying the complainant.
Any substantially new and different complaints submitted by people who have been, or are currently, subject to action under this procedure will be considered on their individual merits.
See our Procedure for managing vexatious customers.
How will the Council learn from comments, compliments and complaints?
The Council is committed to learning from comments, compliments and complaints and using them to improve services to the public.
Comments will be reviewed regularly by Council services with a view to improving services and outcomes.
Compliments will be reviewed by the Council service but also corporately so that the Council can adopt good practice and celebrate an individual employee or departments' success.
Heads of Service will receive regular information about comments, compliments and complaints.
Complaints will be monitored by Council services and by the Council’s companies. The Council’s Corporate Management Team will receive an annual report on complaints including any lessons learned, actions taken to address complaints and the outcomes of any ombudsman investigations. The Audit and Governance Committee will also receive complaints information annually. This will be published on our website.
Review
This procedure will be reviewed regularly by the Council’s Monitoring Officer to ensure that it continues to comply with the law, reflect good practice and meet the needs of the Council.
