Complaints Policy

Introduction

The Vale of Grwyney Community Council is committed to dealing effectively with any concerns or complaints you may have about the services we provide.

We aim to clarify any issues about which you are not sure. If possible, we’ll put right any mistakes we may have made. We will provide any service you’re entitled to which we have

failed to deliver. If we get something wrong, we will apologise and where appropriate try to put things right. We also aim to learn from our mistakes and use the information we gain to improve our services.

The Vale of Grwyney Community Council welcomes all feedback because it helps to improve the way we do things and to learn from things that have gone wrong.

This document sets out our procedure for working with customers who would like to make representations, including complaints, about the actions, decisions, or apparent failings of our Services.

What is a complaint?

The Council has adopted the following definition of a complaint: –

  • An expression of dissatisfaction or disquiet or concern,
  • Either written or spoken or made by any other communication method,
  • By one or more members of the public,
  • About a public service provider’s actions or lack of action,
  • Or about the standard of service provided,
  • Which requires a response.

What is a comment?

  • Proposal to help the Council improve its service delivery and / or aspects of customer care.

What is a compliment?

  • An expression of praise concerning a high level of service delivery and / or aspect of customer care.

When to use this policy:

When you express your concerns or complain to us, we will usually respond in the way we explain below.

Sometimes, you might be concerned about matters that are not decided by us, eg policy set by Welsh Government or Powys County Council and we will then advise you about how to make your concerns known.

This policy does not apply if the matter relates to a Freedom of Information or Data Protection issue. In this instance please refer to the General Data Protection Regulations, policies held by Vale of Grwyney Community Council relating to data and information available from the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/

Councillor Complaint

Complaints about the conduct of a Councillor cannot be handled through the complaint system.

For information contact the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales:

Tel: 0300 790 0203

http://www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk/

Have you asked us yet?

If you are approaching us for the first time, then this policy does not apply. You should first give us a chance to respond to your request by contacting the Clerk or the Chair in Office.

Is there anything else which is excluded from being dealt with via the complaints policy, examples include:

  • An initial request for service, such as reporting an issue for the first time
  • An appeal against a properly made decision made by the Council
  • A means to seek to change to legislation or a properly made decision
  • An insurance claim against the Council (however a complaint could be made about the process the Council followed in administering the claim)
  • A means of lobbying groups / organisations to promote a cause
  • Allegations of financial impropriety, fraud and / or corruption
  • Items which are a police matter
  • Complaints about things which are not the responsibility of the Council
  • A matter that has already been considered by the Public Ombudsman for Wales, unless there is extensive new evidence.

(This list is not definitive)

If you make a request for a service and then are not happy with our response, you will be able to make your concern known as we describe below.

Informal resolution:


If possible, we believe it’s best to deal with things straight away rather than try to sort them

out later. If you have a concern, raise it with the Clerk who will try to resolve it for you there and then. If your concern involves the Clerk please refer it to the Chair in Office. If there are any lessons to learn from addressing your concern then the Clerk or Chair will draw them to our attention. If the Clerk or Chair can’t help, they will explain why and you can then ask for a formal investigation.

How to express concern or complain formally:

You can express your concern in any of the ways below:

  • You can get in touch on: 01873 890777 if you want to make your complaint over the phone
  • You can email us at: valeofgrwyneycc@gmail.com

You can write a letter to us at the following address:

The Vale of Grwyney Community Council
Pleasant View
Fforest Coal Pit
ABERGAVENNY
NP7 7LH

Stage 1: Informal Resolution

All informal complaints are handled by the Clerk who will assess the complaint, send out a formal acknowledgement email or letter within 5 working days to the complainant and register the complaint with the Vale of Grwyney Community Council at its next meeting. Your complaint will be responded to within 28 working days or if more complex, you will be informed and we will let you know how long we expect it to take.

Stage 2: Review

The purpose of a Stage 2 review is to consider firstly if:

  • The customer’s complaint is fully understood and addressed
  • All the relevant evidence is taken into account
  • The Council’s policies and procedures were properly followed
  • The complaints process is carried out properly and fairly
  • The conclusions reached on the basis of evidence is reasonable and fair
  • Are any other actions or remedies appropriate

Stage 2 complaints will be acknowledged within 10 working days and dealt with by a minimum of 3 Councillors within the Council, who must be independent to the matter your complaint or concern is regarding.

A response is normally issued within 28 working days but can be extended if necessary by the investigating councillors.

Some Complaints can be escalated straight to stage 2 when they are initially received, should they be of a serious nature.

Dealing with your concern:

  • We will formally acknowledge your concern and let you know how we intend to deal with it
  • We will ask you how you would like us to communicate with you, normally how you have contacted us unless otherwise stated
  • You are able to advise us if you have any particular requirements for example if you have a disability
  • We will deal with your concern in an open and honest way
  • We will make sure that your dealings with us in future do not suffer just because you have expressed a concern or made a complaint.

Normally, we will only be able to look at your concerns if you tell us about them within 12 months. This is because it’s better to look into your concerns while the issues are still fresh in everyone’s mind.

In exceptional circumstances we may be able to look at concerns which are brought to our attention later than this. However, you will have to give us strong reasons why you have not been able to bring it to our attention earlier and we will need to have sufficient information about the issue to allow us to consider it properly.

(In any event, regardless of the circumstances, we will not consider any concerns about matters that took place more than three years ago.)

If you’re expressing a concern on behalf of somebody else, we’ll need their agreement to you acting on their behalf.

What if there is more than one body involved?

If your complaint covers more than one organisation e.g. Powys County Council and the Vale of Grwyney Community Council we will work with the other organisation to decide who should take a lead in dealing with your concerns. You will then be given the name of the person responsible for communicating with you while we consider your complaint.

Investigation:


We will tell you who we have asked to look into your concern or complaint. If it is more serious, we may appoint an independent investigator.

We will set out to you our understanding of your concerns and ask you to confirm that

we’ve got it right. We’ll also ask you to tell us what outcome you’re hoping for.

The person looking at your complaint will usually need to see the files we hold relevant to

your complaint. If you don’t want this to happen, it’s important that you tell us.

If there is a simple solution to your problem, we may ask you if you’re happy to accept this.

We will aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and expect to deal with the vast majority within 28 working days for Stage 1 and Stage 2. If your complaint is more complex, we will:

  • Let you know within this time why we think it may take longer to investigate
  • Tell you how long we expect it to take
  • Let you know where we have reached with the investigation, and
  • Give you regular updates, including telling you whether any developments might change our original estimate.

The person who is investigating your concerns will aim first to establish the facts. The extent of this investigation will depend on how complex and how serious the issues you have raised are. In some instances, we may ask to meet you to discuss your concerns. Occasionally, we might suggest mediation to try to resolve your disputes. We’ll look at relevant evidence.

This could include files, notes of conversations, letters, emails or whatever may be relevant to your particular concern. If necessary, we’ll talk to the staff or others involved and look at our policies and any legal entitlement and guidance.

Adopted on the 16th June 2025