Compliments, comments and complaints

We're committed to providing high-quality services that meet the needs of our residents. That’s why we want to make it as easy as possible for you to let us know what you think. Through listening and learning we seek to improve the quality of the services and encourage good practice by our staff.

Complaints

We recognise that sometimes things go wrong - a complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction or concern.

Defining complaints

If you're unhappy with the standard of service or with something that we, or someone working on behalf of us, may or may not have done, you can make a complaint.

Examples of complaints:

• we have done something we should not have done
• we have failed to do something we should have done
• our service has not been delivered to the expected quality, frequency or cost
• an employee of the council (or any of our contractors or agents) has behaved inappropriately

Complaints can be made in relation to any services or actions by us, or by anyone working on behalf of us. That includes third party contractors or other organisations employed by us.

Circumstances in which this complaints process does not apply

There are a number of circumstances in which it is usually not appropriate or possible to accept a complaint using this process:

• A complaint is received more than 90 calendar days after the complainant is aware of the issue or incident(s) specified in the complaint. This is because it is very difficult to effectively investigate after a long period of time. If a complaint is received after this time we would not accept it unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances.
• Someone is requesting a service or reporting a service problem for the first time.
• Someone has an issue with their Councillor. You can do that on our Complain about a councillor page.
• Someone is asking us to deal with a complaint about another resident or organisation. This includes neighbour noise, fly-tipping, or environmental health (you can report these on our do it online page).
• To appeal against a benefits decision, please go to our benefits appeals page.
• To tell us about a breach of planning control, please go to our planning enforcement page.
• If you wish to contest a Fixed Penalty Notice issued by District Enforcement, or register a complaint regarding the conduct of a District Enforcement officer, you will need to contact District Enforcement directly in the first instance. It has its own complaints process and escalation agreed with ourselves. To contact District Enforcement, please email dacorum.council@district-enforcement.co.uk or call 0151 647 0387.
• Someone has a complaint about a service provided by someone else - for example, Hertfordshire County Council. The complaint should be made to that organisation.
• Someone disagrees with local or national policy. We can record this, but it’s not a complaint.

Making an anonymous complaint

You can make an anonymous complaint by telephoning us on 01442 228000. We can note your dissatisfaction but we will not be able to respond to you through the complaints service.

What will happen to my complaint?

Our complaints process has two clear stages, each of which is designed to provide a robust, thorough and independent response to the issues raised. Once we have received your complaint, an investigation will be carried out by a Group Manager for the service area.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can request a review by contacting us within 28 calendar days from the receipt of our response. For a review to be granted, you must demonstrate why the process or outcome is unfair or incorrect.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, we recommend that you contact the Local Government Ombudsman's office or, if you are a council tenant or leaseholder with a complaint about Housing, please contact the Housing Ombudsman's office.

The Ombudsmen will not normally consider your complaint until it has already been through both stages of our internal complaints process. They will check that this has happened before they investigate your complaint.

Our complaints policy

 Dacorum Borough Council complaints policy (PDF 389KB)

Making a complaint if you are a council tenant or leaseholder

The Housing Landlord service covers the management of your tenancy, including repairs and maintenance, paying your rent and, if you live in supported accommodation or a block of council owned flats, cleaning and landscaping.

If you're unhappy with the outcome of your complaint and it has been considered at both stages of our service, you can approach an Independent Designated Person for advice.

Read more about the  role of the designated person or panel (PDF 241 KB).

You can contact us as an Independent Designated Person by emailing independent.person@dacorum.gov.uk

Or write to us:
Designated Person Complaints
Dacorum Borough Council
The Forum
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP1 1DN

If you do not want to involve an Independent Designated Person or you are unhappy with their findings, you can approach the Housing Ombudsman once eight weeks from receipt of final response has passed.

If you're still unhappy with the findings of the Independent Designated Person we would recommend that you contact the Housing Ombudsman's office:

Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4HN
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
Website: Visit www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk for more information. 

Compliments

This may be something we’ve done well or when you've liked a service delivered by us or one of our partners. To send a compliment about a staff member or team who you think should be nominated for Employee of the Quarter, use our employee nomination form.

Employee nomination form

To send us any other type of compliment, please email compliments@dacorum.gov.uk.

Comments

This may be a suggestion or view on how we might improve our services or a request for information or guidance. You can email us suggestions on feedback@dacorum.gov.uk.