Complaints - Purley on Thames Parish Council

WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU

If you are dissatisfied with the standard of service you have received from this council, or are unhappy about an action or lack of action by this council.

This Complaints Procedure sets out how you may complain to the council and how we shall try to resolve your complaint.

This Complaints Procedure applies to complaints about Council administration, financial management and procedures and may include complaints about how council employees have dealt with your concerns.

UNHAPPY ABOUT A COUNCIL DECISION?

The appropriate time for influencing Council decision making is by making your views known before the Council debates and votes on a matter.

Agendas for forthcoming meetings are published on Parish Council notice boards and website ( www.purleyonthames-pc.gov.uk ) at least three clear days before the meeting.

You may also write to the Council in advance of the meeting at which the item is to be discussed. There may also be the opportunity to speak in the public participation section of Council meetings.

If you are unhappy with a Council decision, you may write to the Council, but Standing Orders prevent the Council from re-opening issues for six months from the date of the decision, unless there are exceptional grounds to consider this necessary and the special process set out in the Standing Orders is followed.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU MAKE A COMPLAINT

You may make your complaint about the Council’s administration, financial management and procedures to the Clerk in writing on the attached form. This procedure and form is also published on the website www.purleyonthames-pc.gov.uk

Address:	The Clerk Purley on Thames Parish Council Parish Office Goosecroft Lane Purley on Thames Reading RG8 8BW
Telephone:	0118 984 4507
Email:	Contact Form

Wherever possible, the Clerk will try to resolve your complaint immediately. If this is not possible, the Clerk will normally try to acknowledge your complaint within five working days.

If you do not wish to report your complaint to the Clerk, you may make your complaint directly to the Chairman of the Council who will report your complaint to the Council.

Address:	Chairman of Purley on Thames Parish Council Parish Office Goosecroft Lane Purley on Thames Reading RG8 8BW
Telephone:	0118 984 4507
Email:	Contact Form

The Clerk or the Chairman of the Council will investigate each complaint, obtaining further information as necessary from you and/or from staff or members of the Council.

If the complaint is about the Clerk of the Council then the Chairman of the Council will personally investigate the complaint, obtaining further information from you and/or from staff or members of the Council.

The Clerk or the Chairman of the Council will notify you within 20 working days of the outcome of your complaint and of what action (if any) the Council proposes to take as a result of your complaint. (In exceptional cases the twenty working days timescale may have to be extended. If it is, you will be kept informed.)

If you are dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you may ask for your complaint to be referred to the full Council and (usually within eight weeks) you will be notified in writing of the outcome of the review of your original complaint.

This Complaints Procedure does not apply to:

Complaints by one Council employee against another Council employee, or between a Council employee and the Council as an employer. These matters are dealt with under the Council’s disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Complaints against Councillors are covered by the Code of Conduct for Members adopted by the Council on 26th June 2012 and, if a complaint against a Councillor is received by the council, it will be referred to the Standards Committee of West Berkshire Council. Further information on the process of dealing with complaints against councillors may be obtained from the Monitoring Officer of West Berkshire Council; telephone: 01635 42400.

(Adopted 16th June 2011)