How to make a complaint against the Council (or service)

To make a complaint about a service provided by East Staffordshire Borough Council, you can either:

• Complete and submit the Comments, compliments and complaints form online
• or, write to: Comments, compliments and complaints, PO Box 8045, Burton upon Trent, DE14 9JG

Please provide your name and a contact address or email address so that we can acknowledge receipt of the complaint and keep you informed of its progress. 

Please note, the Council does not normally investigate anonymous complaints.

The Council's Complaint Procedure is detailed in the Constitution Part 4.

What happens if I complain?

We will try to sort out your complaint as quickly as possible. If we can’t sort out the matter there and then, or if you are unhappy with the response you get, you can make a formal complaint.

If you exercise your rights to complain, we will not discriminate against you in any way.

Andrea Davies deals with formal complaints.

You can contact Andrea:

• by phone on 01283 508306;
• by e-mail at complaints@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk;
• by fax on 01283 508388;

How will we deal with your complaint?

We will pass your complaint to the appropriate Department who will write to you, and do all they can to sort out the problem.

If you are unhappy with their reply, your complaint will be referred to the relevant Head of Service to be reviewed. After a full investigation the Head of Service will reply to you.

If you are still not happy, the matter will be passed to the Chief Executive.

At each stage, you will receive a reply within 10 working days.

We will try to sort out your complaint as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you want to refer the matter to your local ward councillor, please let Andrea Davies know and she will give you the contact details.

If you are still not happy at the end of the complaints procedure, you can ask for your complaint to be examined independently by the Local Government Ombudsman. 

Local Government Ombudsman for England

If you have been through all stages of our complaints procedure and are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review your complaint.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

The Ombudsman expects you to have given us chance to deal with your complaint, before you contact them. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable time, it may decide to look into your complaint anyway. This is usually up to 12 weeks but can be longer for social care complaints that follow a statutory process.

About the Ombudsman

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the final stage for complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. It also investigates complaints about all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) for people who self-fund their care.

Contact

• Website
• Telephone: 0300 061 0614
• Text 'call back' to 0762 481 1595

Opening hours

Monday to Friday: 10.00am to 4.00pm (except public holidays)

Unreasonable complainants and unacceptable behaviour

The Council has adopted a policy on dealing with unreasonable complainants and unacceptable behaviour.

If you wish to informally complain about an elected or co-opted Member of the Borough Council or a Parish/Town Council in the Borough of East Staffordshire, please contact the Monitoring Officer.

If you wish to make a formal complaint that such a Member has breached their Code of Conduct, you should complete the Council's Member Conduct Complaint Form and send this to the Council's Standards Committee.

Please read the guidance provided here before making a formal complaint.

Before you make a complaint about a Member

You may also find it helpful to read the Council's Code of Conduct for Members and the Council's Standards Committee and Complaints Procedures.

If you wish to discuss a potential complaint please contact the Council's Monitoring Officer, who will explain the process and can put you in contact with an Independent Person who will be able to discuss the matter with you before your submit your complaint.

Contact the Council's Monitoring Officer

Monitoring Officer,
East Staffordshire Borough Council
PO BOX 8045
Burton upon Trent,
DE14 9JG

E-mail: monitoring.officer@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk

Tel: 01283 508000

Fax: 01283 535412

Making a formal complaint about a Member

Please discuss the matter with the Council's Monitoring Officer for general advice before submitting a written complaint.

Formal written complaints must be submitted using the Council's Standard Complaint Form available online or by request from the Council's Monitoring Officer.

You will also need submit any evidence which you have to support your complaint and send this to the address shown on the form.

The written complaint can be submitted by post, email or fax, preferably within 28 days of an alleged breach, or explain sufficiently on the form, why the complaint is being submitted outside of this period of time.

Please note the Standards Committee can only deal with complaints about the alleged behaviour and conduct of a Member. It will not deal with complaints about any of the Council's services or matters not covered by the relevant council's Code of Conduct for Members.

How we will deal with you complaint about a Member

The procedures which we will follow dealing with your complaint, and the sanctions which are available to the Standards Committee are set out in the Council's Standards Committee Complaints Procedures.

Your complaint will initially be considered by the Monitoring Officer. They may decide to investigate your complaint, to try to resolve your complaint in some other way, or to take no action on your complaint. They will let you know their decision.

If the complaint is referred for investigation, it may be necessary for the Standards Committee to meet to consider your complaint. In this case, you may be asked to attend the hearing.