Complaints

We want to provide good quality services for all of our customers but things can go wrong.  If they do, we need to know so that we can put them right and learn from them.

You can make a complaint in the following ways;

• complete our on-line complaint, compliment, comment and suggestion form
• complete our complaints, compliments, comments and suggestions booklet
• phone any of our staff
• email any of our staff

There are three stages to our complaints procedure;

Stage 1 - your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days and then sent to the relevant assistant director responsible for the service.  The assistant director will then investigate your complaint and reply to you within 10 working days.  If we cannot resolve the complaint within 10 working days, we will send you an update letter telling you what progress has been made.  We will respond fully within a further 10 working days.

Stage 2 - If you are unhappy with the assistant director's reply at stage 1 you can appeal to the relevant director.  We will acknowledge your appeal within three working days.  The director will investigate your complaint and respond to you in 15 working days.  If your complaint cannot be resolved within 15 working days, we will send you an update letter telling you what progress has been made and then respond fully within a further 10 working days.

Stage 3 - If you are unhappy with the director's reply at stage 2 you can appeal to the chief executive of Dale & Valley Homes.  Your appeal will be acknowledged within three working days and will then be investigated by the chief executive or chosen officer.  The investigator is independent of the service you are complaining about and will send you a report on the complaint within 25 working days.

Local Government Ombudsman - If you are still unhappy after stage 3, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman, an independent person who investigates allegations of administrative fault that cause injustice