Whitworth Town Council

Complaints Policy

Whitworth Town Council provides members of the public and visitors with services every day.  While most of these services are provided to a very high standard, occasionally things can go wrong. The Council cares about providing a good service and genuinely values feedback on how services measure up. The Council wants to know if you are unhappy with the service you have received; it takes complaints very seriously, and will look into each complaint received.

Complaints are important as they provide valuable information which enables the Council to:

  • put things right when they’ve gone wrong;
  • learn from mistakes;
  • improve the standard of service delivery.

You can expect the Council to:

  • make sure that your complaint is taken seriously and handled sympathetically;
  • treat your complaint confidentially;
  • respond to your complaint as quickly as possible;
  • learn from complaints and improve services as a result.

What is a complaint?

A complaint is where:

  • you are unhappy with a Town Council service you have received, or
  • you consider the Council has not done something that it should have, or
  • you are unhappy with the way you have been treated.

How to complain

You can ask to speak to the Town Clerk in the first instance and ask for a copy of the Town Council’s Code of Practice for Handling Complaints, which explains how you can make a complaint and how your complaint will be processed by the Council.

All complaints should be stated clearly in writing, and sent for the attention of the Town Clerk (if you would prefer not to send your complaint to the Town Clerk, you can send it for the attention of the Mayor, and mark it ‘private and confidential’). The postal address is: Whitworth Town Council, Council Offices, Civic Hall, Whitworth, Lancashire, OL12 8DP.

If you are not happy with the Council’s decision regarding your complaint, you can contact the Council via the Clerk or Mayor, who can arrange for your complaint to be looked at again.  If you are still not happy with the Council’s response, you can write to the Local Government Ombudsman, an independent person who investigates complaints about most council matters. The Ombudsman Advice Team can be contacted on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983 or you can visit www.lgo.org.uk.

Complaints against specific Councillors

Complaints against specific Town Councillors are dealt with via Rossendale Borough Council – please contact the Whitworth Town Council Clerk in the first instance for details of how to do this.