Unhappy with our service?
If you are unhappy with the service you received from our staff or if you feel we have not handled something properly, this section gives you information on how to complain. If you are unhappy with our decision about your complaint, please see the separate guidance, Unhappy with a decision? If you are not sure, please contact us for advice.
We aim to provide an excellent service, but we know we cannot please everyone and that sometimes a decision can disappoint because the outcome is not what was hoped for. Whatever the outcome of your case, we hope you are satisfied with the level of service we provide and the way we treat you.
We also know that, as in any organisation, things can sometimes go wrong. Please tell us if this happens, so that we can put things right and learn from any mistakes. We would like to hear from you if you feel dissatisfied with any aspect of our service. For example, if you think we have:
- treated you unfairly or rudely;
- failed to explain things clearly or listen to your concerns properly;
- caused unreasonable delays.
We take complaints about our service very seriously. We want to know if things go wrong so that we can put them right and improve our service in the future. We will deal with your complaint as set out below.
Step 1
If you are dissatisfied with the service you received, please contact our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rosemary Agnew. It would be helpful if you could set out your concerns in a letter or email. Please mark your letter clearly 'Personal - Service Delivery Complaint'. The CEO will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. She will usually ask another SLCC Manager to deal with your service delivery complaint and to respond to you. We will aim to provide a full reply within 21 days of receiving your letter. If we cannot reply within 21 days, we will write to explain why not and tell you when you can expect a full response.
The person you are complaining about will be told that a complaint has been made and will be asked for their views. They will not be involved in looking into the complaint in any other way. If our enquiries show that your complaint about our service is justified, we will apologise and tell you how we will address the problem.
Step 2
If you are still not happy when you have received our response, you can contact our CEO, Rosemary Agnew again and she will personally review your complaint and the way in which it was dealt with.
If your complaint is about a Member, please write to our CEO, Rosemary Agnew, who will review your complaint. If you are not content with the response and you believe a Member has breached the code of conduct, you can complain to the Public Standards Commissioner - (www.publicstandardscommissioner.org.uk)
If your complaint is about the CEO, please write to her and she will try to resolve your complaint. If are not content with her response, please write to our Chairing Member, Jane Irvine, who will review the decision and if appropriate, arrange for an independent investigation from someone external to the SLCC.
We keep a record of all complaints made about our service and record the outcome of each complaint. We produce statistical information relating to these complaints each year.