Background

Good complaint handling requires effective procedures and well-trained staff alongside a positive complaints culture that enables those procedures to achieve maximum impact. This code sets out what an organisation should do procedurally to handle complaints.

Organisations should embrace complaints through increased transparency, accessibility, and complaint handling governance. Demonstrating that individuals are at the heart of its service delivery and good complaint handling is central to that.

Some organisations see complaints as a form of negative feedback. However, there are many benefits to be gained from having an effective and efficient complaints process:

• Good complaint handling promotes a positive relationship between an organisation and service users.
• Complaints allow an issue to be resolved before it becomes worse. Those issues not resolved promptly can take significant resource and time to remedy.
• Involvement in complaint resolution develops staff ownership, decision-making and engagement.
• Complaints provide senior staff with essential insight into day-to-day operations, allowing them to assess effectiveness and drive a positive complaint handling culture.
• Data collected about complaints can be analysed and used to inform key business decisions to drive improvement in service provision.

The Complaint Handling Code ('the Code’), sets out a process for organisations that will allow them to respond to complaints effectively and fairly. The purpose of the Code is to enable organisations to resolve complaints raised by individuals promptly, and to use the data and learning from complaints to drive service improvements. It will also help to create a positive complaint handling culture amongst staff and individuals.

The Code will act as a guide for individuals setting out what they may expect from an organisation when they make a complaint. Organisations should seek feedback from individuals in relation to their complaint handling as part of the drive to encourage a positive complaint and learning culture.

Organisations should have a single policy for dealing with complaints covered by the Code.

The principles, process and timescales in this Code are aligned with the Complaint Handling Code issued by the Housing Ombudsman. This means that organisations who fall under the jurisdiction of both Ombudsmen should be able to provide a co-ordinated complaint handling process across services covered by both Codes.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's powers and approach

The Code is issued under the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s powers to provide “guidance about good administrative practice” to organisations under section 23(12A) of the Local Government Act 1974. For the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman this Code constitutes important advice and guidance to councils, rather than instructions.

We have issued the Code for local councils in England. Other organisations in the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction may find the Code helpful in setting out good practice.

We can recommend an organisation takes action to improve services or provide a personal remedy where it finds fault causing injustice to an individual or group of individuals. Unlike the Housing Ombudsman, we have no specific responsibility for monitoring compliance with the Code in addition to our role investigating complaints of maladministration and service failure.

Using the Code

We expect local councils to carefully consider the Code when developing policies and procedures. Where an organisation decides that it will depart from the Code, it should ensure local decision-making processes have been properly followed.

We may make a finding of maladministration where local councils policies and procedures depart from the Code without sufficient explanation. We may also make a finding of maladministration where a local council, without good reason, does not meet the standards in the Code when responding to an individual complaint.

Where an organisation is unable to comply with its policies and procedures when dealing with an individual complaint, the individual should be provided with a suitable explanation and signposted to the Ombudsman.

The Code should be considered along with other guidance issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. 

The Code does not replace any existing statutory complaint processes such as The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 or Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.