Feedback

Click here to complete the Compliments, Comments & Complaints form

Our commitment to you

We, Staffordshire County Council, are committed to providing the best possible service. Teachers, social workers, engineers, architects, economists, town planners, school-crossing patrols, scientists, community carers, cleaners and drivers are all working for you as members of our team.

We welcome your compliments, complaints and suggestions as part of our commitment to provide a service which meets your needs. We do not consider people who complain to be ‘troublemakers’.

We need to know when we have done things well, when things are not right or when you have a suggestion, so we can continue to improve the services we provide. We will handle all complaints fairly, politely and within agreed timescales. We will also pass on all compliments to relevant staff.

Sometimes, things can go wrong. We are sorry when this happens. We want to make sure we investigate every complaint and that we take action to improve our service.

Who should you contact and when?

• Try local staff first – the engineer, the architect, the teacher or  the local manager should be able to help.
• Fill in the feedback form
• Write, text, phone, use the minicom, e-mail or visit us in person.
• Your county councillor may also be able to help you.

What should you expect from the customer feedback procedure?

We will thoroughly and fairly investigate all complaints. If we don’t agree with your complaint, we will tell you and explain how you can take the matter further if you are not satisfied with our response.

It would be helpful if you could provide personal details in case there are any points we need to clarify.

There are four separate stages that any complaint may go through. The stages are briefly below. If you need more information, you can contact us at the address or phone number given at the bottom of this page.

Stage 1 is when the staff who provided the service being complained about, or their managers, are given the opportunity to sort out any complaints made about that service.  You will receive a letter to say we have received your complaint. You should expect a full response within 15 working days. We aim to sort out most complaints satisfactorily at stage 1.

Stage 2 is when someone is not satisfied with the outcome of stage 1. We refer a complaint at stage 2 to the relevant corporate director, who will arrange for the complaint to be reviewed by a senior member of staff. You should expect a response within 20 working days.

Stage 3 is when someone is still not satisfied with the outcome of stage 2. They can ask for the matter to be reviewed by the Monitoring Officer who is our Corporate Complaints Officer.  You should expect a response within 25 working days.

Stage 4 is when someone is still not satisfied after stage 3. They can then refer the complaint to the Local Ombudsman – the independent local government watchdog.

You can write to the Local Government Ombudsman at:

Local Government Ombudsman
The Oaks No 2
Westwood Way
Westwood Business Park
Coventry
CV4 8JB.

Phone: 024 7682 0000

What if you feel you are being discriminated against?

We are determined that everyone should be treated equally.  If you feel that you have been discriminated against please contact the Equality and Diversity Advisor at the following address:

Equality and Diversity Advisor
Chief Executive's Office
c/o Wedgewood Building
Tipping Street
Stafford ST16 2DH

Phone: 01785 276821
E-mail: ccs.equalities@staffordshire.gov.uk

Customer satisfaction

This is our new feedback form. In future editions we plan to use this space to tell you about customer satisfaction surveys we have carried out relating to the complaints process.

Monitoring compliments, comments and complaints

We will use this space to tell you what has happened over the last 12 months, for example:
• the number of complaints;
• how well we met the agreed timescales;
• the types of complaint we received;
• what we have done to improve services; and
• what we plan to do to improve services as a result of the  compliments, comments and complaints we have received.

Contact us

You can contact all our directorates by writing to or calling at:

John Tradewell
The Monitoring Officer
Staffordshire County Council
Peel Building
St Chad’s Place
Stafford
ST16 2LR.

Phone our switchboard on 01785 223121.
E-mail: customer.feedback@staffordshire.gov.uk
Text:   STAFFS CORP  followed by your message to 60003 (standard network charges   apply)

Last Modified: 31/03/2008 09:12:38
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