Comments and Complaints
Clackmannanshire Council is committed to providing the best services possible to its customers. That is why we have set up a Comments and Complaints procedure to find out what you think about our services. Listening to your views will help us provide a better service.
- What is a COMPLAINT?
- What to do if you want to make a COMMENT or COMPLAINT?
- What happens next?
- If you are still not satisfied?
- Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)
- About SERVICE FUNCTIONS and CONTACTS...
Quick link to the on-line complaints form here
Let us know your COMMENTS if ...
- you have received exceptionally good service;
- you have a suggestion on how to improve our service;
- we have done something wrong;
- we have not done something we should have done;
- you have been treated unfairly.
We would like to know, because:
- if we have done well, we would like to promote the same good practice throughout the council services;
- if we have been at fault, we would like to put things right and make sure it doesn't happen again;
- if we have not been at fault, we will make sure you get a full explanation.
What is a COMPLAINT?
Complaints fall into different categories, e.g.
- the attitude of an employee of the Council or discrimination by an officer
- failure of an officer to provide a service at a standard expected by the Council
- delay in responding to an enquiry or a request for service
- failure to follow Council's policies, rules or procedures
- a quality decision in which the Council is not providing Best Value
- a risk concerning Health and Safety issues
What is NOT a COMPLAINT?
- the first request for action or for a service
- a first request for information or explanation
- an appeal relating to a planning decision, a review request under Freedom of Information or other area where a formal statutory process already exists.
What to do if you want to make a COMMENT or COMPLAINT...
Either write or telephone the relevant services (brief descriptions of each service's functions and contact details are listed below). If you have a complaint, please provide us with as much detail as possible, include names, places, dates and let us know how we might put matters right.
If this is not convenient, you may call at any local office, where a member of staff will be happy to help you, or use the on-line form.
If you want to write to us, please state which service you are writing to and use our Freepost Address, which means you do not need a stamp.
FREEPOST TY805
Clackmannanshire Council
Greenfield
ALLOA
FK10 2AD
Tel: 01259 450000
For full details of the Comments and Complaints Procedure, please see our Corporate Policy.
Social Services have a legal obligation to have an established complaints procedure which is similar to the corporate comments and complaints procedure. Leaflets are available in council offices or if you need further details, please see the Social Services Complaints procedures or contact the Social Services Complaints Officer at:
Lime Tree House, Alloa
Direct Telephone: 01259 452351
All complaints received will be given equal importance, regardless of which method of contact you choose to use to let us know about your complaint.
What will happen next?...
When we receive your complaint, this will be logged as a first stage complaint.
We will make every attempt to have the complaint resolved speedily. If your complaint needs further investigation, we will send you a written acknowledgement and a reply normally within 10 working days. If it will take longer to find out all the facts, we will keep you informed of the progress. The progress of your complaint will be monitored by a nominated Monitoring Officer for the particular Service about which you are complaining.
(Please note that Social Services have separate legal obligations relating to complaints. See the link to Social Services at the end of the page for further details.)
If you are still not satisfied...
Once you have received our reply outlining our findings, if you are still not satisfied with the response, you may make a request to escalate your complaint to a second stage. This means your complaint will be reviewed by a Service Director.
If you are still dissatisfied with the Council's findings you can escalate your complaint further to stage three for a review by the Chief Executive. You may write to the Chief Executive at:
The Chief Executive,
Clackmannanshire Council
Greenfield
Alloa
FK10 2AD
or use the email box: chiefexecutiveservice@clacks.gov.uk
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)
Once you have given the Council an opportunity to respond to your complaint and, if you are still not satisfied with the responses you have received from the Council, you will be advised that you have a right to contact the Ombudsman, officially called the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman based at 4 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7NS. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman provides an open, accountable and accessible public services complaints system. Before taking any action, the Ombudsman will normally expect that you have contacted the Council about your complaint, and that the Council has been given ample opportunity to deal with and resolve the issue.
You can contact the SPSO by:
Write: Freepost EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR
Tel: 0800 377 7330
Fax: 0800 377 7331
Text: 0790 049 4372
Email: ask@spso.org.uk
Web: www.spso.org.uk
It will be helpful if you keep copies of all your correspondence.
SPSO Report for Clackmannanshire 2008/09
The Ombudsman recently wrote a letter to Clackmannanshire Council and all Local Authorities in Scotland to detail the contact each had with the SPSO in the year 2008/09.
We would like you to be happy with our services and are continually striving to improve provision, please help us to make that happen. Your views are important to us.
The main telephone number for the Council is 01259 450000. This call will be answered in our Contact Centre where the operator will be able to put you in touch with all Council Services.
The email address for general enquiries is enquiries@clacks.gov.uk
For further information please contact:
The Administration Officer (Admin)
Tel: 01259 452006 Fax 01259 452230
Email: adminservices@clacks.gov.uk
or you may use our on-line contact form on ClacksWeb at www.clacksweb.org.uk
The Council's Comments and Complaints Procedure outlined does not impact on the right of every citizen to seek advice and assistance from their electoral representatives.
You have the right to seek advice from your local Councillor, Member of Parliament, Member of the Scottish Parliament or Member of the European Parliament. If you don't know who this is, you can find out by looking at our website www.clacksweb.org.uk, ask at any Council office, or by contacting Member Services at the Council on telephone number 01259 452011.
__________________________________________________________________________
ABOUT SERVICE FUNCTIONS and CONTACTS...
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S SERVICES
The Chief Executive's Services are responsible for the overall policy direction and co-ordination in the Council. Its remit covers economic development, corporate policy, emergency planning and administration and legal services with a range of services under the following headings:
Strategic Policy
Corporate policy; Communications and marketing; Community Safety; Community Planning; Research and Information and Regeneration
Administration and Legal Services
Support services to Councillors; legal advice and assistance to other Council Services; delivery of a range of services such as licensing, registration of births, deaths and marriages and the administration and delivery of elections.
Emergency Planning
Provides advice and training to all Council services and co-ordinates their preparation of plans to respond in the event of a major emergency.
Contact: Support Services Manager, Chief Executive's Services
Greenfield House, Alloa, FK10 2AD
Tel: 01259 452003 Fax: 01259 452230
email: chiefexecutiveservice@clacks.gov.uk
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
The core remit of this Service is the strategic matching of financial and human resources to Council policy priorities developed in an ethos of performance management and achievement of best value.
The main activities of Corporate Development are:
'modernising government'
performance and strategy
human resources
information technology
training and development services
finance, including council tax
banking and internal audit
Contact: Corporate Development Service
Greenfield House, Alloa, FK10 2AD
Tel: 01259 450000 Fax: 01259 452230
email: corporatedevelopment@clacks.gov.uk
DEVELOPMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
The Development and Environmental Services bring together most of the Council's regulatory, property and contract services including amongst others, Planning, Environmental Health, Building Control, Roads, Property Maintenance and Waste Management. trading standards, land services and burial grounds. The Service is structured within three main services:
Environmental Services, Development Services and Property Services.
The strategy of Development and Environmental Services is based on three main themes:
1. Caring for the Environment
2. Enriching Peoples Lives
3. Promoting Sustainable Development
Each theme has a set of key objectives that all teams within the Service will seek to achieve in the coming years. How they will do this will be defined by the key tasks and associated action plans that they will identify in the Annual Service Plan.
Contact: Development and Environmental Services
Lime Tree House, Castle Street, Alloa, FK10 1EX
Tel: 01259 452532 Fax: 01259 452200
email: development_services@clacks.gov.uk
SERVICES to PEOPLE
Services to People brings a unified management structure to a very broad range of public services. These public services function to meet the individual needs of the people of Clackmannanshire. It includes all of the services in the areas of education and lifelong learning, housing, social services both adult and childcare, criminal justice and the social work service for Glenochil Prison.
The service is divided into six divisions. These are:
- Housing and Benefit Advice Services;
- Adult Care and Social Work Services;
- Childcare, Early years and Criminal Justice
- Education and Schools
- Community and Cultural Services
- Support Services
The three main objectives of Services to People are:
1. Supporting individuals by enriching their life experience there by aiding them to realise their full potential.
2. Promoting individual well being by tackling inequality, lessening hardship and providing care to those who need it.
3. Providing environments that enhance the strength of and increase the feeling of safety in local communities.
The main telephone number of the Council is 01259 450000. Our operator at the Call Centre will be able to put you in touch with all services.
April 2008
