How to get your complaint across

YORK council has a nifty little leaflet which explains what to do if you want to complain about its services or the way you have been treated.

The leaflet contains a pledge. "We are determined to make the services we provide for you as efficient and effective as possible. If, however, you should have any problems with council services, we have a procedure for handling complaints as swiftly and courteously as possible. The procedure is designed to make it easy for you to complain and to get things put right quickly."

Kevin Young could be forgiven for thinking those were just empty words.

In September, he was offered an official apology and £500 compensation after complaining about the way he was treated when he raised concerns about sexually explicit photos of former council leader Rod Hills.

But the apology and offer of compensation only came after a two-year battle with the council, in which Mr Young claims he ran up legal costs far higher than the £500 he was offered.

Mr Young says he found the photos in the street, and went into the council offices in March 2002 simply to ask whether Coun Hills was fit to hold the position of council leader.

But the council wrongly passed his confidential details to Coun Hills' legal team, who took legal action against Mr Young over the photos. The negative publicity led to Mr Young losing his accommodation.

Many would suggest that taking two years to resolve such a complaint is neither swift nor efficient. To the council's credit, at least it eventually owned up to making a mistake.

Suzan Hemingway, head of civic, democratic and legal services, said that while the disclosure of Mr Young's name and address had resulted from poor administration procedures rather than any wilful act, it constituted maladministration and had caused unnecessary anxiety and distress to Mr Young.

But what guarantees can there be that such a thing will not happen again?

Um, none really.

The council's head of performance improvement, Colin Mockler, says that there is a three-stage complaints procedure in place which theoretically should see any complaints being dealt with properly and effectively.

But he admits that York, while once a leader in the field, has in some ways failed to keep up with the times. So is it possible that other complaints could be lost in the system?

"I wouldn't like to say categorically 'no'," he says.

It is not difficult to see how things could go wrong. Complaints about the council fall into two categories: those about elected members; and those about council officers or council policy.

Complaints about members are dealt with by the council's Standards Committee, headed by an independent chairman, Roger McMeeking, the former bursar of York University.

Ultimately, because of the importance of ensuring that elected members behave themselves, such complaints will be referred to a national standards board.

Other complaints, however, are dealt with - in the first instance, at least - by the council's own complaints procedure.

They could be complaints about rude or unacceptable attitudes or behaviour by a particular council officer; about the way the council deals with a particular issue - for example, if a mess was left in your council home after someone had been sent to do repairs; or about policies that might be discriminatory.

For all of these, the complaints procedure stipulates that you should complain first directly to the officer responsible. They then have ten days to resolve the complaint or to explain to you what action is being taken.

If you are not satisfied, you can then refer your complaint to the next tier - the manager of the service or individual you are complaining about.

Again, they have ten days to deal with your complaint, or to explain what they propose to do.

Finally, if still not satisfied, you can refer your complaint to the top - the director of the appropriate service. Once more, they have ten days to take action.

Ultimately, if you are still not satisfied, you can refer your case to the local government ombudsman, who will look into your complaint.

All of which sounds reasonably straightforward, if time-consuming. But there are black holes into which a complaint could easily disappear. For example, there is no system for giving your grievance a reference number - so it is not difficult to see how it could be lost. And if you are not satisfied with the way your complaint is being dealt with, it remains your responsibility to refer it up to the next level.

All of which helps to explain why the council's entire complaints system is about to undergo a review. That was already in the pipeline, Mr Mockler says. Since the case of Mr Young, however, it has become a higher priority.

A report to the council's standards committee tomorrow suggests setting up a special team to overhaul the complaints procedure. So what kind of changes might they be looking at?

The report to Standards committee tomorrow highlights two areas:

u making sure any complaints which have not been resolved after six months are scrutinised to find out what is causing the delay;

u ensuring better procedures for complainants to be kept informed of the progress of their complaint.

It is too early to say in detail what other issues the review might cover, Mr Mockler says. But areas it might look at could also include:

u making better use of technology to monitor the processing of complaints (including possibly introducing a complaint reference number);

u streamlining the complaints procedure so that it is not necessary to go through three stages;

u making sure different departments share best practice;

u better training for staff in how to deal with complaints

Mr Mockler says he is personally against having a special complaints unit, because there would be a temptation for frontline officers to pass on the complaint and then wash their hands of it.

But designated officers in each department to deal with complaints could be considered, or perhaps "customer care officers" in a new "one-stop shop" being proposed to improve access to council services.

The ultimate aim of the review, he says, is clear.

"Ideally, we want complaints to be able to be resolved as low down the chain and as quickly as possible. We want people to feel that we're an open and accessible organisation that takes notice of residents and visitors to the city, and that if there is something they are not happy with, they can be heard."

Complaints don't need to be viewed as always negative, he insists. They can be a positive.

A modern complaints system that used technology to monitor complaints could, for example, identify areas of council improvement that were complained about frequently and needed to be improved.

And if, as a result of a new, improved complaints procedure there is an increase in complaints, all well and good.

"When complaints increase, people tend to think 'Oh my God, why?'" Mr Mockler said. "But actually it is good. It means people have faith in something being done about it."

At the end of the day, says council leader Steve Galloway, an open and transparent system for dealing with complaints will inspire confidence. "People have a right, as customers of the council, to have issues dealt with quickly and effectively," he said. "If people are dissatisfied with the quality of service they must have a remedy. And it is important for the image of the council that that remedy is seen to be effective."

If you want to complain about City of York Council and are not sure how, call 01904 613161. You can contact the local government ombudsman on 0845 602 1983.

Updated: 11:07 Thursday, November 18, 2004