Making a complaint

Introduction

Doncaster Council is committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially and to providing a high quality service to all of our customers.

You can make a complaint either by telephone, by email, the website, fax or letter

If you want to make a complaint about the standard of service, actions or lack of action taken by the Council or our staff you can do so in the following ways:

By Email: Comments&complaints@doncaster.gov.uk

By Telephone: 01302 736000

By e-form using the following link:  Compliments, Comments or Complaints Form

In writing to: 
Complaints Co-ordinator
PO Box 251
The Council House
College Road
Doncaster
DN1 3DA

In person at any of our Libraries, Customer Service Centres or Town Centre Receptions.

We treat all complaints and comments seriously and continually strive to improve the services we provide.

What is the complaints procedure and who will deal with my complaint?

There are three stages to the Councils Complaints Procedure, which are as follows:

Stage 1 – Local Resolution
At this stage a senior officer within the service area complained about will investigate your complaint and will respond directly to you.

When you make a complaint we will send you an acknowledgement within 3 working days.

You can expect a full response to your Stage 1 complaint within 10 working days. However, on very rare occasions we may need longer to investigate your complaint. If we do need more time we will contact you to let you know when you can expect a response.

Stage 2 –Complaint Investigation
If you are unhappy with the outcome or response to stage 1, you can appeal and ask for your complaint to be looked at again. To do this you must contact the Complaints Co-ordinator to request a stage 2 investigation. You can do this by emailing or writing to the Complaints Coordinator at the above address within 20 working days of the date of your stage 1 response.

When you ask for a stage 2 investigation we will send you an acknowledgement within 3 working days.

A manager or senior officer who has not previously been involved in your complaint will be appointed to investigate the issues and respond to you directly.

You can expect a response to your stage 2 complaint within 20 working days.

However, we may need longer to investigate your stage 2 complaint. If we do need more time we will contact you to let you know when you can expect a response.

Stage 3 –Local Government Ombudsman
If you are unhappy with the stage 2 investigation result you have the right to approach the Local Government Ombudsman who are the commissioners for administration in England. You can approach the Local Government Ombudsman at any time, however, they will not usually investigate a complaint from a customer unless it has been dealt with through the Council's complaints procedure first.

The contact details for the Local Government Ombudsman are below:

Local Government Ombudsman
Commission for Local Administration in England
Beverley House
17 Shipton Road
York
YO30 5FZ
Website: www.lgo.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 061 0614
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk

The option to approach the Local Government Ombudsman is the third and final stage of the Council’s complaints procedure and is the final point of contact to resolve complaints.

Further information:

Frequently Asked Questions - Complaints

Local Government Ombudsman

Complaint about a Councillor

If you are unhappy about the way a Councillor of Doncaster Council or any Parish Council in the Doncaster area has behaved, you can make a complaint to the Council's Monitoring Officer. Please see the following page for further details:

How to complain about a Councillor

Persistent Complainants

Doncaster Council is committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially and to providing a high quality service to those who complain.

However, there are a small number of complainants who, because of the frequency of their contact with the local authority, hinder and affect our ability to deliver high quality services.

It is therefore important to distinguish between people who make a number of complaints because they really think things have gone wrong, and people who make unreasonably persistent complaints.

For further information please see Persistent Complainants Factsheet on this page: