Corporate Complaints

What we do

Corporate Services are responsible for corporate (non-statutory) complaints and for monitoring the Council’s performance regarding this.

Why we need your information and how we use it

The information you provide us with will be used for the following purposes:

To investigate and respond to your complaint.
Monitor our performance in responding to complaint.
Help us to develop or improve our services

While we report on our performance in responding to complaints, we do this in a way that does not publically identify individuals.

What is our power to obtain and use personal data?

We are required by law to manage all types of feedback including complaints. This is detailed in legislation and guidance including:

The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003
The Children Act 1989
Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009

The Council has established a corporate complaints process for Council services that fall outside of the requirements of the legislation listed above. This process and the handling of complaints is based on advice issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

We are allowed to process personal and sensitive data for the following reasons:

To comply with a legal obligation
For public tasks or statutory functions
Substantial public interest
For the performance of a contract
Legitimate interests

What type of information we collect

The amount of information that you need to provide to us to investigate a complaint will vary depending on which service you are complaining about and the context of your complaint. Generally, your complaint would always need to include:

Name
A contact address (this can be a postal address, email address or social media details)

This is so that the Council can contact you regarding your complaint.

Additionally, depending on the service you are complaining about and the context of your complaint, you may want to include the following information:

Council reference number
Information about your property
If you have any medical conditions or disabilities
Your racial or ethnic origin
Your sexual orientation
Your gender identity
Whether you are an employee of the Council

You would only need to include this information in your complaint if it relates to the circumstances, for example if your complaint relates to your property, or you are complaining about discrimination.

You are able to make a complaint anonymously if you do not want to share your personal information with us, although we will not be able to respond to you with the outcome of your complaint in this situation. Additionally, if the complaint relates to your individual situation, we will not be able to investigate it anonymously.

Who we may share your information with

Your data may be shared with the following:

Council departments responsible for responding to your complaint.
Other partner agencies that provide services on our behalf, and may need to respond to elements of your complaint.
Agencies with whom we have a duty to co-operate, such as the police.
Should you complain to either the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman about the handling of your complaint, we may need to share your data with them as part of their investigation of your complaint, for example if they request copies of correspondence.

Your data will be held securely on a computer system Pentana Performance.

How long we keep your information

In line with the Council’s Retention Policy, your data will be held for a period of 6 years, starting from the last response to your complaint.

Version date

June 2019