(A pdf version of this policy is available for download here)
Introduction
St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council is committed to providing a quality service for the benefit of the people who live and work in the Parish or who are visiting the locality.
If you are dissatisfied with the standard of service you have received from this Council, or are unhappy about an action or lack of action by this Council, this Complaints Procedure sets out how you may complain to the Council and how your complaint will be handled.
Scope
This Complaints Procedure applies to complaints about council administration and procedures and may include complaints about how council employees have dealt with your concerns.
This Complaints Procedure does not apply to:
- complaints by one council employee against another council employee, or between a council employee and member, or a council employee and the council as employer. These matters area dealt with under other council policies.
- complaints against Councillors. The Council is unable to investigate complaints against any of its members. Parish and Town Councillors sign up to a Code of Conduct on taking office which adheres to the principles of public life. If you wish to submit a complaint for breach of this code should do so to the Monitoring Officer at Cornwall Council –
Mr S Mansell
Cornwall Council
Treyew Road
TRURO
Cornwall
Further information can be accessed from https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/the-council-and-democracy/councillors-and-meetings/code-of-conduct-complaints/
General Principles
The appropriate time for influencing Council decision-making is by raising your concerns before the Council debates and votes on a matter. You may do this by contacting the Council in advance of the meeting at which the item is to be discussed. There may also be the opportunity to raise your concerns in the public participation section of Council meetings.
If you are unhappy with a Council decision, you may raise your concerns with the Council. Standing Orders prevent the Council from re-opening issues for six months from the date of the decision, unless there are exceptional grounds to consider this necessary and this special process is set out in the Council’s adopted Standing Orders.
Procedure
In the first instance, you should make your complaint about the council’s procedures or administration to the Clerk. You may do this in person, by phone, or by writing to or emailing the Clerk. The addresses and numbers are set out below. Wherever possible, the Clerk will try to resolve your complaint immediately. If this is not possible, the Clerk will normally try to acknowledge your complaint within five working days.
If you do not wish to report your complaint to the Clerk, you may make your complaint directly to the Chairman of the Parish Council who, with another member of the Council will try to resolve your complaint or report it to Council or the appropriate Council Committee.
The Clerk or the Chairman of the Parish Council (as appropriate) will investigate each complaint, obtaining further information as necessary from you and/or from staff or members of the Council.
The Clerk or the Chairman of the Parish Council will notify you within 20 working days of the outcome of your complaint and of what actions (if any) the Council proposes to take as a result of your complaint. In exceptional cases the twenty working days timescale may have to be extended. If this is the case, you will be kept informed.
If you are dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you may ask for your complaint to be referred to Full Council and (usually within eight weeks) you will be notified in writing of the outcome of the review of your original complaint.
Contacts
Linda Ranger PSLCC, FdA (Comm Gov)
Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer
St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council
Office 2, Brannel Room
22 Fore Street
St Stephen, St Austell
PL26 7NN
Telephone: 01726 823003
Email: clerk@ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk
Cllr Julie Broad
Chairman of St Stephen in Brannel Parish Council
Carnegga Cotttage, Crown Rd
Whitemoor
PL26 7XH
Telephone: 01726 823808
Email: julie.broad@ststepheninbrannel-pc.gov.uk
[Adopted and approved by Full Council at the meeting held on Wednesday 10 May 2023 under minute number FPC134/23. Due for review May 2026.]