Complaints and compliments

Listening to you

We are committed to providing a good-quality and fair service. However, we sometimes make mistakes. When this happens it is important that you let us know. This can help us to put things right for you and for everyone else who uses our services.

You can pass on a compliment

You can use our "Your comments" form to give a compliment about our services or the way we have treated you. We always aim to improve our services so we need to know where we are performing well, as well as where we can improve.

Our definition of a complaint

A complaint is a way of telling us that you are not happy with a particular service. It may be about the standard of service you have received, a delay in providing a service, poor communication, not consulting you or the way we have behaved. So please let us know if:

• You think we have not got it right;
• We have not done something we said we would do; or
• You are not satisfied with a particular service or set of services that we provide.

Report a Problem with our service

We do not consider your first request for service to be a complaint. For example, when you first let us know about a street light not working, we do not consider this to be a complaint. In this instance you would use Report a Problem (see link on right). Also use the Report a Problem facility (rather than make a complaint) when you are not happy with council services e.g. bin not emptied. 

Problem with the website content

If you are not happy about content on the website then please choose the "Contact Complaints (Council) online" link in the contact us section (top right of this page) and complete the "Submit a comment or make a suggestion" form. Please tell us which service web pages you are not happy with.

Adults or Children's Social Care Services Complaints

If your complaint is about Adults or Children's Social Care Services you should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right. 

Complaints about schools

All schools are required to have their own procedure for handling complaints. If you have a concern or query relating to a particular school, you should contact them directly. You should should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right.

Consumer complaints

When something goes wrong with the goods that you have bought or when the services are sub-standard you should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right.

Food Complaints

The Food Safety Team investigates complaints about food manufactured or sold in the Bury Metropolitan Borough area. You should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right.

Housing defect complaints

To make a complaint about a housing defect you should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right.

Complaints of anti-social behaviour by a Six Town Housing tenant

Most complaints of anti-social behaviour involving council tenants as either perpetrators or victims would be dealt with by Six Town Housing's Anti-Social Behaviour team. You should follow the appropriate link in "Related pages" on the right.

Council complaints (excluding Adults and Children's)

Step 1 - sorting out your complaint quickly 

Where to go first

You do not have to make the complaint yourself - someone can complain on your behalf and be your representative or spokesperson. This could be, for example, a relative, a friend or someone from a voluntary agency.

We will deal with all complaints impartially, objectively, professionally and in confidence.

The first step is to contact the service responsible for providing the service you want to complain about. This can be done by navigating to the relevant part of our website, select the "Contact service online" (top right of page) link, then complete the "Submit a comment or make suggestion" form.

• If you do not want to do this, or if you are not happy with the response you receive, ask to speak to that person's manager. You will need to navigate to the relevant part of our website to find the contact details in the "contact us" section (top right of page).

At this stage we will make a record of your comments and take action to make sure the problem does not happen again.

We hope we can sort out most complaints at this stage. However, if you are not happy with our response you can go to step 2.

Step 2 - the formal process

What to do next

If we have not settled the matter at step 1 you can do the following:

• Make a formal complaint by:- visiting our website:
  • completing the "Your Comments" form online (see related links on right) or
  • phoning (see "Telephone" link top right of page) or
  • call into a council office (see "how to find us" link top right of page)  or
  • filling in our "Your Comments" form online then print it out (you can add a letter or extra sheets if necessary).
• If you are complaining by filling in a form, hand it in or send it to the customer care officer, Town Hall, Knowsley Street, Bury, BL9 0SW.
• Once we receive your complaint the customer care officer will ask a senior member of staff to investigate the matter. We will aim to:
• 
  
  • send an acknowledgement letter within 5 working days of receiving your complaint,
  • tell you who is dealing with your complaint; and
  • send you a full response in writing within 20 working days explaining the results of our investigation.
• If we have not finished our investigation within 20 working days we will tell you why and let you know when we hope to give a full response.

If we have not been able to settle the matter at this stage, or you are not happy with the response, you can go to step 3.

Step 3 - if we cannot settle your complaint

If you are not happy with the results of our investigation at step 2 you can take the complaint further by writing to our Chief Executive and telling us why you are still not happy. You should write to:

The Chief Executive will respond within 20 working days. If the investigation cannot be completed within 20 days you will be told why and we will let you know when we hope to give you a full response.

If, as a result of your complaint, you are still not satisfied with the way in which it was handled by the council, you can take the complaint the Local Government Ombudsman (see page on left or their website link on the right) or the Citizens Advice Bureau (see their website link on the right).

Do you need help?

If you need any help completing the complaints form please:

• select the "Contact Complaints (Council) Online" link in Contact us (top right of this page); then complete the"request information" form or
• Visit any Bury Council office so we can help you. For directions to all council buildings see "In your area" (see right of this page).

The complaints form is also available as a booklet, 'Your Voice Counts'. Leaflets are available in a variety of languages, in braille, in large print and on cassette. You can also use our minicom facilities. We can also arrange for a translation or for an interpreter to help you understand the information. To request a copy of the booklet or for more information please Contact Complaint (Council) Online (top right of this page) and complete the "Request information" form.

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