Our complaints policy
We aim to put the customer at the heart of everything we do, however, we recognise there may be occasions when we do not meet the expectations of our customers.
We welcome complaints and use them to review and improve the services we provide. We also welcome compliments and make sure those involved see them, so we can use them to continue to improve.
What to expect when you complain
When you contact us about an issue, we will always aim to see if we can put it right or resolve it at first point of contact.
If we can and no further action is needed, we will not record your contact as a complaint.
A good example of this would be a customer complaining about our leisure centre toilets being dirty, and a staff member resolving the problem straight away. If however, your complaint can't be resolved at first point of contact, it will be formally recorded and handled in line with the below procedure:
Stage one
If an issue arises, please complain as soon as possible, so that we can provide a full and detailed response. Whilst we will always do our best to investigate complaints that are historic, we cannot guarantee a detailed response to complaints that date back over a year.
Your stage one complaint will be processed by a senior mangager responsible for that service within Lichfield West Midlands Traded Services (LWMTS) - whether that's a leisure centre manager, the manager responsible for disabled facilities grant, or the manager responsible for major planning application processing.
You will receive an acknowledgement within 5 working days, and we will normally send a full response within 20 working days.
If your complaint is complex, or we need to wait for information from third parties to resolve your complaint, and it will take longer than 20 days to respond to you in full, the manager will contact you to let you know when you can expect a full response from us.
All complaints are treated in confidence and are covered by the relevant privacy notice.
Stage two
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can ask for your complaint to be investigated again as part of a stage two complaint. Stage two complaints are passed to the sponsoring local council to investigate (for example Lichfield District Council).
To ask for your complaint to be investigated as part of a stage two complaint, please contact the manager who sent you your stage one response within 20 working days of receiving the stage one response.
Stage two complaints are investigated by a council officer who is not directly involved in the service, on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer who reviews and signs off responses to stage two complaints.
The sponsoring council will normally send a full response within 20 working days. If your complaint is complex, or the council needs to wait for information from third parties to resolve your complaint and it will take longer than 20 days to respond to you in full, the council will contact you.
If the complaint is complex, of a serious nature, or requires external specialist advice, external support may be appointed. The investigating officer will let you know if this is required.
All complaints are treated in confidence and are covered by the relevant council privacy notice.
Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
If you are unsatisfied with the council's stage two response, you can refer the matter to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman who may carry out an independent investigation of the complaint.
The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman does not handle complaints unless you have been through our internal complaints procedure first.
The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman can be contacted at The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
Outcomes and remedies
When we have considered your complaint, we will contact to you to let you know the outcome of our investigation, which will either be that we have upheld your complaint, partially upheld your complaint or your complaint has not been upheld.
If your complaint is partially or fully upheld we will apologise and we will work to put things right where we can.
We/the council may also consider alternative remedies that must be proportionate and reasonable to the circumstances of the complaint, and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
How we learn from complaints
LWMTS and the council have a culture of learning from and welcoming all complaints. Complaining about a service or an individual will not impact the service you can expect to receive in the future.