IN HANDLING COMPLAINTS
(Adopted 14 February
2005)
1. If a complaint about procedures or
administration is notified orally to a councillor or the Clerk to the Council
and it is not possible to satisfy the complainant in full immediately, the
complainant shall be asked to put his/her complaint in writing to the Clerk to
the Council and receive an assurance on receipt that the matter will be dealt
with promptly.
2. If a
complainant indicates that he/she would prefer not to put the complaint
to
the Clerk to the Council then he/she should be advised to put it to the
Chairman
of Council.
3. On receipt of a written complaint, the
Clerk to the Council or the Chairman, as the case may be, shall (except where
the complaint is about his own actions) try to settle the complaint directly
with the complainant, but shall not do so in respect of a complaint about the
behaviour of the Clerk to the Council or a Councillor without notifying the
person complained of and giving him an opportunity to comment on the manner in
which it is intended to attempt to settle the complaint. Where the Clerk to the
Council or Chairman receives a written complaint about his own actions, he/she
shall immediately refer the complaint to the council.
4. The Clerk to the Council or the
Chairman shall report to the next meeting of the Council any written complaint
disposed of by direct action with the complainant.
5. The Clerk to the Council or the
Chairman shall bring any written complaint which cannot be settled to the next
meeting of the council, and the Clerk to the Council shall notify the complainant of the date on which the
complaint will be considered.
6. The council shall consider whether the
circumstances attending any complaint warrant the matter being discussed in the
absence of the press and the public. If the matter is a complaint of the Clerk
to the Council such that the council or the Clerk to the Council believes that
the matter may lead to a disciplinary hearing then the matter must be heard
with the press and public excluded. In this event, if the complaint is of any
employee, even if the matter is being dealt with initially out of the context
of a formal disciplinary hearing, then the employee is entitled to have a representative
present to act as set out in the Employment Relations Act 1999 s.10. The matter before the council in this case will be to
establish whether there is a factual basis to the complaint and the action that
should then be taken. The proceedings at this stage cannot be a formal
disciplinary hearing, which must be convened on a separate occasion in the
proper manner.
7. As soon as may be after the decision has been made it and the nature of any action to be taken shall be communicated in writing to the complainant.
8. In the event of serial facetious,
vexatious or malicious complaints from a member of the public the council
should consider taking legal advice before writing any letters to the
complainant.