Official Complaints to the Council
Before making an official complaint to the Council,
your complaint must have PREVIOUSLY been dealt with through the
department to which your complaint is about.
This enables the department to try and resolve your complaint
before you take it any further. If you REMAIN dissatisfied
with the response you receive, you can then make an official
complaint.
Categories of Complaint
The following are defined categories of complaints and are the
ONLY TYPES of complaints which will be dealt with through the
Official Complaints Procedure:-
(1) Dissatisfaction with the way Council policies
are carried out.
(2) Failure to consider relevant matters in coming
to a decision, or with action taken in
implementing that
decision.
(3) Complaints regarding conduct and the actions of
individual employees.
(4) Delays in responding, or complaints about the
administrative process.
(5) Failure to provide a service.
(6) Failure to achieve standards/ quality of
service.
(7) Failure to fulfil statutory responsibilities.
(8) Bias or unfair discrimination.
Exclusions
The following types of complaints will be excluded from the
Official Complaints Procedure:-
(a) Complaints which are
essentially criticisms or disagreements of Council policies
or
decisions
in themselves, rather than the way they have been carried
out.
(b) Complaints against individual employees which arise
directly from the customer's
dissatisfaction with a
Council policy or decision, and where no other basis for the
complaint exists.
(c) A Planning or Development Control matter, or
Housing Benefit, or Homelessness matter
where a right of
objection exists, unless the complaint relates specifically to the
way
the matter has
been administered.
(d) A decision of the Council where regulatory powers
are being exercised unless the
complaint
relates specifically to the way the matter has been
administered.
(e) A matter which is, or could reasonably expect to
be, the subject of court or tribunal
proceedings, or which is
in the hands of the Council's insurers.
(f) Complaints which constitute a disagreement with or
refusal to accept a rule of law
which the Council is
applying.
The Council's Full Complaints Procedure is available in PDF
Format (approx size 103kb).
Making a Formal Complaint
We are sorry if your complaint cannot not be
resolved to your satisfaction when you first contact
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council.
If your complaint has been dealt with previously by the
department concerned and you believe that it qualifies under one of
the categories of complaint (above), you can either:-
or
(b) Complete a Complaint Form available for
download below:-
(
Complaints
form in Adobe Acrobat format suitable for printing
(approx
size 191kb)).
You can also collect a Complaint
Form from the Town Hall Reception, the Cemetery
Office and the Housing
Department, Cavendish House, Barrow and return it to us.
Completed forms should be sent to:
Democratic Services
Officer,
Democratic Services,
Town Hall,
Duke Street,
Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria,
LA14 2LD.
If it is more convenient for you,
return the form to any of the Borough Council's offices.
The Procedure
If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else,
please include their name and address. If you are sending any
documents or previous correspondence, please indicate whether or
not you wish these to be returned to you.
On receiving the form, the Democratic Services Officer will
send you an acknowledgement within THREE WORKING DAYS. You will
then receive a full reply within TWENTY EIGHT DAYS of the
acknowledgement date from the Officer responsible for the service
which your complaint is about. If a reply is likely to take longer
than this, you will be informed as to when a reply can be
expected.
If you are not satisfied with the reply to your complaint, you
should write again, as soon as possible, explaining why you are not
satisfied with the Council's reply and whether you wish your
complaint to be further investigated.
We will investigate your complaint in a fair and equitable way
to achieve a satisfactory solution to the problem. However, if this
is not possible or if you are unhappy with the Council's procedure,
you have the right to refer your complaint to the Local Government
Ombudsman who may undertake an independent investigation on your
behalf. Please ask if you would like further information.
You may also wish to raise your complaint with one of our
local Councillors. We will be pleased to advise you who your local
Councillors are and how to contact them.
or,
Help with making a Complaint
If you feel you need independent or legal advice, one of the
organisations listed on the Community Legal Services page may be able to help
you.
Local Government Ombudsman
We will investigate your complaint in a fair and equitable way
to achieve a satisfactory solution to the problem. However, if this
is not possible or if you are unhappy with the Council's procedure,
you have the right to refer your complaint to the Local
Government Ombudsman who may undertake an independent
investigation on your behalf.
The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent person who
investigates allegations of maladministration causing injustice to
the person who has complained. The Ombudsman investigates
complaints about most council matters including housing, planning,
education, social services and council tax. The Ombudsman who deals
with this Council is at:
PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH.
Telephone Number: 0300 061 0614
or 0845 602 1983,
Fax Number: 024 7682 0001,
Text: 'call back' to 0762 480 4299
If you have an enquiry about the Local Government Ombudsman's
service you can telephone their Advice line on
0845 602 1983.
Ombudsman's Annual Letter
On an annual basis The Local Government Ombudsman writes to the
Council's Chief Executive with their reflections on the complaints
received against the Authority over the year.
Below is the Local Government Ombudsman's Annual Review of
Barrow Borough Council:-
| Year Ended 31st March, 2012 |
|
| Year Ended 31st March, 2010 |
|
You can follow this link to access
previous letters on the Local Government Ombudsman's web
site.
Do you wish to make a complaint about the behaviour of a
particular Member?
Code of Conduct for Borough Councillors
General Provisions
Barrow Borough Council has adopted the following
code dealing with the conduct that is expected of members and
co-opted members of the Authority when they are acting in that
capacity as required by Section 27 of the Localism Act 2011.
All Councillors have a duty to abide by the
Code of Conduct, and sanctions can be taken against a Councillor
who has been found to have breached any part of the Code.
Code of Conduct July 2012
A failure to declare a disclosable pecuniary
interest is a criminal offence. A breach of the Code may lead
to a complaint being made to the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
Download
the complaints form
Register of Members'
Interests
The Council’s Monitoring Officer has a duty to
maintain a Register of Members Interests of Members and Co-optees
of the Authority. Councillors are obliged to keep their Register
up-to-date and to inform the Monitoring Officer of any changes.
The register is open for inspection by the
public at the Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, during normal office
opening hours. Please contact the Democratic Services Section for
more information. That Register is also published on the Council's
Website, Members' completed forms being available under their
individual details.
The register contains those interests which
must be disclosed by legislation (these are called Disclosable
Pecuniary Interests) and those interests which the Council has also
decided should be registered (Other Registerable Interests).
Complaints
If you feel that the Code of Conduct has been
breached please contact the Council’s Monitoring Officer:-.
Monitoring Officer
Barrow Borough Council
Town Hall
Duke Street
Barrow-in-Furness
Cumbria
LA14 2LD
Tel: 01229 876503
Email: jbright@barrowbc.gov.uk