Complaints Procedure

Adopted and approved by Full at the meeting held on 18th November 2019 under minute number 19/20.080. Due for review June 2020.

Littleport Town Council is committed to providing a quality service for the benefit of the people who live and work in the Parish or who are visiting the locality.

If you are dissatisfied with the standard of service you have received from this Council, or are unhappy about an action or lack of action by this Council, this Complaints Procedure sets out how you may complain to the Council and how your complaint will be handled.

This Complaints Procedure applies to complaints about council administration and procedures and may include complaints about how council employees have dealt with your concerns.

This Complaints Procedure does not apply to:

• Complaints by one council employee against another council employee, or between a council employee and member, or a council employee and the council as employer. These matters area dealt with under other council policies.
• Complaints against Councillors. The Council is unable to investigate complaints against any of its members. Parish and Town Councillors sign up to a Code of Conduct on taking office which adheres to the principles of public life. If you wish to submit a complaint for breach of this code should do so to the Monitoring Officer at East Cambridgeshire District Council.

Address
The Grange
Nutholt Lane
Ely
Cambs
CB7 4EE

Further information can be accessed from www.eastcambs.gov.uk

The appropriate time for influencing Council decision-making is by raising your concerns before the Council debates and votes on a matter. You may do this by contacting the Council in advance of the meeting at which the item is to be discussed. There may also be the opportunity to raise your concerns in the public participation section of Council meetings.

In the first instance, you should make your complaint about the council’s procedures or administration to the Clerk. You may do this in person, by phone, or by writing to or emailing the Clerk. The addresses and numbers are set out below.

Wherever possible, the Clerk will try to resolve your complaint immediately. If this is not possible, the Clerk will normally try to acknowledge your complaint within five working days.

If you do not wish to report your complaint to the Clerk, you may make your complaint directly to the Chairman of the Town Council who will try to resolve your complaint or report it to the appropriate Council Committee.

Any complaint regarding an officer of the Council must be submitted in writing – letter or email to the Chairman of the Town Council.

The Clerk or the Chairman of the Town Council (as appropriate) will investigate each complaint, obtaining further information as necessary from you and/or from staff or members of the Council.

The Clerk or the Chairman of the Town Council will notify you within 20 working days of the outcome of your complaint and of what actions (if any) the Council proposes to take as a result of your complaint. In exceptional cases the twenty working days timescale may have to be extended. If this is the case, you will be kept informed.

If you are dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you may ask for your complaint to be referred to Full Council and (usually within eight weeks) you will be notified in writing of the outcome of the review of your original complaint.

Contacts:

Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer
Littleport Town Council
The Barn
Main Street
Littleport
Ely
CB6 1PH

Telephone: 01353 860449
Email: clerk@littleporttowncouncil.gov.uk