Issues the Council’s Complaints Process Cannot Consider

 

Complaints received more than one year after the issue arose

Any matters referred to the Council in excess of one year from when the issue originally arose, fall outside of our jurisdiction to investigate and will not be accepted. This is in line with available guidance provided to the Council. The reasoning behind this decision is that it is not always possible to investigate any concerns once a significant amount of time has passed.

If there are exceptional circumstances as to why there has been a delay in raising a complaint, you can make contact with the Complaints & Customer Care Team who will consider the circumstances around individual cases. If it is assessed that there is a valid reason as to why the complaint has not been made at an earlier stage, advice will be given as to any further assistance that can be offered.
 

School Issues

 

The Council does not deal with complaints about schools. The Government has mandated that each school in England must have their own formal complaints process to deal with any issues that arise.

We would suggest that in the first instance, you attempt to resolve your query informally with the school. However, if you are not satisfied with the outcome at this stage, you can request to take the matter forward as a formal complaint by utilising the school’s own complaint process. 

A copy of the school’s own complaints process should be accessible via each schools own website or alternatively upon request to the school. The complaints policy should set out how the school will deal with any complaints received, and the separate stages throughout the process that are accessible.

If you have been through all the stages of the school’s complaints process and remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can then raise the issue with the Department for Education (DfE). However, if you bypass this step and choose to go straight to the DfE without having firstly exhausted the school’s complaint process, it is likely that you will be referred back to the school to raise the issue and to try to reach an agreeable resolution.
 

Legal Matters

Any issues that have already been considered by a Court are at a legal level and are therefore above the Council’s jurisdiction to revert or to affect this decision. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of a Court decision, this must be challenged via the correct legal process.
However, complaints can be made regarding issues of dissatisfaction in relation to the conduct of staff members or the management or handling of a case, even where this is related to a court decision.

 

Cases where it is more appropriate to access an existing formal appeals process

This complaints procedure does not constitute an appeals process, for example regarding court decisions or tribunals. Where they exist, appropriate appeals procedures must be used, for example, Planning Services or a dispute over or Council Tax issues taken to Valuation Tribunal.

If you are not sure of the process you need to follow and require clarification as to how to proceed in relation to a decision you are unhappy with; you can contact the individual service involved to ask for advice, or alternatively the Complaints & Customer Care Team will be able to look into the matter for you and will be able to provide information as to the correct process you can follow if a complaint is not appropriate
 

HR / Staff Issues

The complaints process is not intended for use by employees (unless their complaint is about a service they receive as a service user). Employee concerns should be raised using the normal line management channels or the Whistleblowing Policy or Internal Grievance Procedures.
 
Make your online Whistleblowing complaint here
 

Councillor Complaints

Any complaints relating to a specific Councillor will need to be directed to the Borough Solicitor who will investigate and address the concerns raised. 

 

Greater Manchester Pension Fund Statutory Complaints

Any issues relating to the Pension Fund will need to be raised with GMPF who will be able to advise as to the process to be followed.
 
Link to Greater Manchester Pension Fund feedback zone here

 

Taxi Driver Issues

If you have require any advice or need to report a serious issue, please contact the Licensing Department for further advice.

Alternatively you can log a concern online here