Complaints to the Council

We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.

You can complain about things like:

• delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
• failure to provide a service
• our standard of service
• council policy
• treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• our failure to follow proper procedure.

Your complaint may involve more than one council service or be about someone working on our behalf.

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure.

These include:

• a routine first-time request for a service, for example a first-time request for a housing repair or action on anti-social behaviour
• requests for compensation from the council
• things that are covered by a right of appeal. Here are some examples:
  • If you are dissatisfied with the level of priority you have been given when applying for a house, you have the right to appeal against the decision.
  • If your planning application is refused, you will have a right to request an appeal to Scottish Ministers or a review by the planning authority’s Local Review Body. Which one depends on the circumstances of the application and the timescale for appeal or review will normally be explained in the correspondence and the decision notice from the planning authority.
  • If you believe your house is incorrectly valued for council tax, you can appeal to the Assessor.

If other procedures or rights of appeal can help resolve your concerns, we will give information and advice to help you.

Anyone can make a complaint to us, including the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service. Please also read the section ‘Getting help to make your complaint’.

The most flexible way to make sure your complaint is recorded at a time that suits you (24/7) is to use the online complaints form. Or you can email, write, phone or speak to a member of staff if you prefer.

It is usually easier for us to resolve complaints if you make them quickly and directly to the service concerned. So please talk to a member of our staff at the service you are complaining about. They can try to resolve any problems on the spot.

If you are unsure who to complain to, contact our Customer Services team on 01382 434800

When complaining, tell us:

• your full name and address
• as much as you can about the complaint
• what has gone wrong
• how you want us to resolve the matter.

Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of:

• the event you want to complain about; or
• finding out that you have a reason to complain.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after this time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint.

Our complaints procedure has two stages:

Stage one: frontline resolution

We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service.

This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong, and immediate action to resolve the problem.

We will give you our decision at Stage 1 in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If we can’t resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why and tell you what you can do next. We might suggest that you take your complaint to Stage 2.

You may choose to do this immediately or sometime after you get our initial decision.

Stage two: investigation

Stage 2 deals with two types of complaint: those that have not have been resolved at Stage 1 and those that are complex and require detailed investigation.

When using Stage 2 we will:

• acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days
• aim to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for – this might involve us contacting you for more details if that is not clear
• give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days.

If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you. We will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress.

After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it.

The SPSO cannot normally look at:

• a complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure (so please make sure it has done so before contacting the SPSO)
• events that happened, or that you became aware of, more than a year ago
• a matter that has been, or is being, considered in court.

You can contact the SPSO:

• In person: SPSO, Bridgeside House, 99 McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NS
• by post: Freepost SPSO
• Freephone: 0800 377 7330
• Online contact: www.spso.org.uk/contact-us
• Website: www.spso.org.uk

If your complaint relates to a care service we provide, you can choose whether to complain to us or the Care Inspectorate. You can find out more about their complaints procedure, or make a complaint, by contacting them at:

Online Form: http://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/online-complaint-form
Telephone: 0845 600 9527
Fax: 01382 207 289
Email: concerns@careinspectorate.com

If you are a tenant of the Council and you are unhappy about the services you receive or have issues about the way we are operating, you can use the above complaints procedure to report your concerns. If you feel that our response to your complaint is unsatisfactory you can report this to the Scottish Housing Regulator.

We understand that you may be unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from the representative of a person who is dissatisfied with our service. We can take complaints from a friend, relative, or an advocate, if you have given them your consent to complain for you.

You can find out about advocates in your area by contacting the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance.

Telephone: 0131 510 9410
Website: www.siaa.org.uk

We are committed to making our service easy to use for all members of the community. In line with our statutory equalities duties, we will always ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to help customers access and use our services.

View our Privacy Statement
View our Privacy Statement for the Complaint Handling Procedure

You can contact our Customer Services Team in the following ways:

Telephone: 01382 434800
Email: customerservices@dundeecity.gov.uk

We can also supply this information in other languages and formats (such as large print, audio and Braille).