Complaints
At Dover District Council we are very conscious of our responsibility to provide the highest possible standard of service to our residents and visitors. We are proud of the standards that we achieve but realise that things do occasionally go wrong. If you wish to make a general enquiry please use our Contact Us form.
Report A Problem
If your comment or complaint is in relation to a specific service and you have not reported the issue to the Council before please use the links below to report it.
Challenge a decision about your benefits, Council Tax or business rates
Complaints
In order to sort out the mistakes that do happen, and to make sure that they are not repeated, we have put in place a complaints procedure. We are also keen to hear if we have done things well.
A complainant does not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as such. A complaint that is submitted via a third party or representative will still be handled in line with the Council's Complaints Policy.
As a reminder, if you wish to report a missed bin, this should be done via the Missed Bins Collection page (see link below), provided it has been missed within 24 hours of your scheduled collection date.
Report a Missed Bin (Within 24 Hours)
Make a formal complaint about a council service »
Complaints Procedure
The Council operates a two-stage complaint procedure as set out in our Complaints Policy.
Stage 1
The people who can best deal with any problems you have are those who directly provide the service. A Stage 1 complaint will be responded to by the department concerned.
The Council's definition of a complaint, except for complaints about housing matters, is the same as that specified by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in its Complaint Handling Code:
"An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the Council, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual or group of individuals."
The Council’s definition for a complaint about a housing matter is the same as that specified by the Housing Ombudsman in its Complaint Handling Code:
“An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord (‘the Council’), its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.”
The Council will acknowledge and log complaints WITHIN 5 WORKING DAYS of the complaint being received. The resident/individual will be advised of the process involved.
The Council will provide a full written response to the Stage 1 complaint WITHIN 10 WORKING DAYS of the complaint being acknowledged by the complaints team. A working day excludes weekends, public holidays and any days that the Council Offices are closed.
The Council may occasionally decide that an extension to this timescale is needed when considering the complexity of the complaint. In such cases the resident/individual will be informed of the expected new timescale for response. Any extension should be no more than 10 working days without good reason, and the reason(s) should be clearly explained to the individual/resident.
Complaints about the housing management service
If you are a tenant or leaseholder of Dover District Council and are unhappy with the service you have received, in the first instance you must raise your complaint to the housing department. Please find out about our housing complaints here: Complaints about the Housing Management Service.
Stage 2
If you are unhappy with the outcome of Stage 1, you can take the matter further and ask that a member of the Council’s Corporate Services Team consider the matter.
Requests for stage 2 will be acknowledged, defined and logged at Stage 2 of the complaint procedure WITHIN 5 WORKING DAYS of the escalation request being received. Within the acknowledgement, the Council will set out its understanding of any outstanding issues and the outcomes the resident/individual is seeking. There is no requirement for the resident/individual to explain their reason for requesting their complaint to be considered at Stage 2. However, if any aspect of the complaint is unclear, the Council will ask for clarification.
The officer considering the complaint at Stage 2 will not be the same person that considered the complaint at Stage 1. Officers from the Council’s Corporate Services team will usually consider Stage 2 complaints. For the purposes of this Policy, these officers are considered as the “complaints officer(s)”.
The Council will issue a final response to the Stage 2 complaint WITHIN 20 WORKING DAYS of it being acknowledged.
The Council will decide whether an extension to this timescale is needed when considering the complexity of the complaint and then inform the resident/individual of the expected timescale for response. Any extension should be no more than 20 working days without good reason, and the reason(s) should be clearly explained to the resident/individual.
Matters Falling Outside of the Scope of the Complaints Procedure
Matters falling outside the scope of the complaint’s procedure are set out below:
- Where the resident/individual has known about the issue for more than 12 months unless there is good reason for the delay or if there are safeguarding or health and safety issues.
- Something for which there is a statutory right of appeal or that can be appealed about to a tribunal (such as the Housing Benefit Appeals Service) or go to court about, unless there is a good reason the resident/individual should not be expected to use that appeal right.
- Where legal proceedings have already started. This is defined as details of the claim, such as the Claim Form or Particulars of Claim, have been filed at Court.
- Matters that have already been considered under the Council’s Complaints Policy or by the Ombudsman.
- Anonymous complaints will not normally be accepted as it would not be possible for the Council to respond to them. However, the Head of Corporate Services and Democracy in consultation with the Council’s Monitoring Officer will make a decision on a case-by-case basis as to whether an anonymous complaint should be investigated further.
- Matters relating to the administration of a town or parish council function.
- Allegations that a Councillor has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct for Members. There is a separate procedure for these complaints
Additionally, there is a separate process for serious complaints concerning a member of staff. Further details are set out in Annex B of the Complaints Policy.
The Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If you remain unhappy with how the Council has resolved your complaint following the conclusion of the Stage 2 process, you may escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Website: http://www.lgo.org.uk/
Telephone: 0300 061 0614
Address: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
Housing Ombudsman
Website: Home | Housing Ombudsman Service (housing-ombudsman.org.uk)
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
Address: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
Ombudsman Self-Assessments
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Self-Assessment and Annual Complaints Performance
| Ombudsman | Self-Assessment | Annual Complaints Performance | Ombudsmans Letter |
|---|
| Local Government and Social Care |
Self-Assessment 2024 |
Annual Complaints Report 2024 |
Dover District Council |
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