Pendle Borough Council
Market Street, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 7LG
Tel: 01282 661661 Fax: 01282 661130
Complaints and Compliments
A guide on how to give your views about the Council's services.
We want to hear from you
We believe in listening to your views and responding to them by providing good quality, cost effective services that meet your needs.
To continuously improve the services that we provide, we need to know when you are dissatisfied with the service that you have received or when something has gone wrong. This helpful feedback will allow us to put things right and to learn from our mistakes. We also want to know when we `get it right` so that we can maintain this standard.
Making a Complaint
This explains what you can do if you think that we have failed
- to provide a service
- to be courteous
- in our standard of work
- in our administration procedures
- to adhere to rule and regulations
- to provide you with the correct information
- to treat you fairly
What should I do if I am unhappy with one of your services?
In most cases we would expect to be able to sort out a problem or complaint quickly. If you have a problem with a service you should first of all contact the service area that deals with the service as it may be possible for an officer to deal with your complaint there and then or to arrange action to resolve the problem.
What should I do if I am still unhappy?
If your problem has not been resolved or you are unhappy with something that the Council has done or failed to do, you should write to the relevant manager and tell him or her about the problem.
You can find details of Who to Contact
You can download a copy of our Complaint Form (PDF)
You can make an online complaint using our Online Complaint Form
You can send an e-mail to complaints@pendle.gov.uk
When making a complaint you should give us as much information about the problem as possible. Try to tell us clearly and exactly what the problem is, including what we did wrong or did not do, how you have been affected by this and what you think that we should do to put things right.
The manager will try and sort out any mistake or misunderstanding straight away. If the problem will take longer to sort out you will be sent an acknowledgement within 2 working days of you contacting us and the manager will respond to your complaint in full within 15 working days. If the complaint takes more than 15 working days to resolve, the manager will keep in touch with you and tell you what is happening. The manager will also let you know if you have any alternative rights of appeal.
What can I expect?
Each complaint that we receive is considered on its own merits. When we have considered a complaint we will act and respond in the most appropriate way. This may take the form of an apology, a full explanation about what happened, a remedy, information about the service and details about what to do if you are still not satisfied.
What if I am still not satisfied?
If you are unhappy with the manager' reply or the action that has been taken to resolve your complaint, you can write to the Chief Executive and ask him to deal with the matter. You should explain why you are not happy with the response that you have received or the action that has been taken. A senior officer will investigate your complaint thoroughly and objectively. You will get a reply with 15 working days. If the complaint takes more than 15 working days to deal with you will be told what is happening.
Local Government Ombudsman
We hope that our Complaints Procedure will quickly resolve any problems that you have. However, if you are unhappy with the way that we have dealt with your complaint you can take it to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent person who investigates complaints of maladministration that caused you injustice. This means something that the Council has done wrong or failed to do and which directly affected you.
The Local Government Ombudsman has a leaflet called ` Complaint about the Council? How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman '. You can get a copy of this leaflet from us or by contacting the Ombudsman. You can also get a copy of the leaflet from the Local Government Ombudsman's website www.lgo.org.uk. You can make a complaint on-line through this website. If you need further advice from the Ombudsman before making a complaint you can ring their Adviceline on 0845 602 1983.
The Ombudsman who deals with the Pendle area is:
Patricia Thomas
Local Government Ombudsman
Beverley House
17 Shipton Road
York YO30 5FZ
Phone: 01904 380200
Fax: 01904 380269
E-mail: enquiries.york@lgo.org.uk
Compliments and Comments
As well as complaints about our services we also welcome compliments and comments. We would like you tell us if we have done something well so that we can make sure that we maintain the standard. We also welcome any suggestions that you may have about how we could do things differently or where we could make improvements to our services. Any comments that you have can help us pinpoint things that we don't do so well and learn from what we do get right. We welcome your help in improving the services that we provide and making sure that they meet your needs.
Where to get help
If you need more information about our Complaints Procedure you can contact:
Democratic and Legal Services
Town Hall
Market Street
Nelson BB9 7LG
Tel: (01282) 661635
You can also ask for a copy of our leaflet 'Complaints, Suggestions & Comments'. This is a guide on how to give your views about the Council's services.
Independent Advice
If you prefer, you can ask for independent advice and help. The addresses and telephone numbers of our local advice centres are shown below.
Citizens Advice Bureaux
61/63 Every Street
Nelson
Tel: (01282) 616750
2 Duke Street
Colne
Tel: (01282) 867188
10 Rainhall Road
Barnoldswick
Tel: (01282) 814814
Ithaad Advisory Service
5 Cross Street Nelson
Tel: (01282) 694700 or 611104
Lancashire Welfare Rights Service
19 Carr Road
Nelson
Lancs
Tel: (01282) 661333
Pendle Pakistan Welfare Association (PPWA)
23-25 Market Square
Nelson
Tel: (01282) 661997 or (01282) 603616
