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Ribble Valley Borough Council

Complaints procedure

How to make a complaint

There are a number of ways to make a formal complaint to Ribble Valley Borough Council, you can contact the Complaints Officer, Bill Alker by:

Alternatively you can contact your local councillor and raise your complaint through them. If you do not know who your local councillor is or how to contact them you can find their details on the councillors page.

If your complaint is about a councillor see Complaints about Councillors.

The complaints that we deal with under this procedure are where we have been told that the council has:

  • done something it should not have done
  • not done something it should have done
  • done something too slowly
  • done something in the wrong way
  • treated anyone unfairly or discourteously
  • done something to an unacceptable standard

Stage 1

Once you have made your complaint you will receive a written response within 10 working days from either the Chief Executive or Director of the service area involved.

Stage 2

If you are not satisfied with the Director or Chief Executive's response you can request that your complaint proceeds to Stage 2. At Stage 2 the Complaints Officer will call a meeting of the Complaints Appeal Panel to review your case. At this stage we reserve the right to refer the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

The Complaints Appeal Panel consists of 3 Councillors supported by relevant officers.

The meeting of the panel will normally be arranged within 3 weeks or, if your case is something the panel can't consider, you will be informed immediately together with an explanation.

The panel will listen to your complaint and then listen to the response from council officers. You will be informed of the panel's decision within 3 working days of the panel meeting.

Local Government Ombudsman

You can refer your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman at any time; however, it is likely that the Ombudsman will only investigate complaints when the authority has had the opportunity to carry out its own investigation.

The Ombudsman will investigate the way your case has been handled, or the council's failure to do something but does not question a council's decision simply because you do not agree with it.

The Ombudsman can be contacted at:

The Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 OEH

Tel: 0300 061 0614
Fax 024 7682 0001
Text 'call back' to 0762 480 4299
Email: advice@Igo.org.uk 
Website http://www.lgo.org.uk/