Complaints systems

Councils may operate a number of complaints processes. Councils with good oversight, governance and scrutiny arrangements will view these processes as part of a single organisation-wide complaints system. An effective complaints system also incorporates interaction with the Ombudsman.

Individual complaints may be dealt with by different parts of an organisation, but including all complaints processes as part of a wider complaint system allows councils to have oversight of performance across the organisation including learning from individual complaints. This allows the council to share that learning across the organisation rather than limiting it to the affected service.

Organisations should also consider how complaints systems link with other redress mechanisms such as insurance claims and legal challenge. In many cases the complaints system can provide a suitable alternative to adversarial approaches to dispute resolution and place less pressure on resources. 

Councils should limit the number of complaints processes operating within a complaints system. Complaints processes should be limited to complaints covered by the Complaint Handling Code and those covered by statutory processes. Having additional processes outside of these causes confusion for the public and makes oversight of complaints more challenging and complex.

These issues are covered in more detail in our guide to managing, designing and delivering effective complaint systems.