Corporate Complaints Policy - January 2026

The council recognises that having complaints investigated will be important to you and it is committed to resolving complaints where possible. There may be occasions where contact from you becomes so frequent and persistent that it hinders the council's ability to consider the complaint and other individuals' complaints appropriately.

Examples of persistent behaviour include:

• contacting a number of council officers or one council officer about the same issues and not allowing each officer time to look into concerns and to respond before sending the next piece of correspondence or making contact
• contacting a number of council officers or one council officer about the same issue or asking the same questions even though a response to the questions has been given
• pursuing a complaint which has completed the council's complaints procedure and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's process, where a final decision has been issued
• sending a considerable amount of correspondence to the council asking for updates on complaints when the expected response date has not yet passed

In these circumstances the council will contact the complainant, usually in writing, to inform and advise that their behaviour is not conducive to council business and will explain the reasons for this. The complainant will be asked to reconsider their contact in future. If the persistence continues, a Senior Officer or Manager will decide whether the circumstances justify a restriction of contact. The individual will be informed of the reason for the decision and for how long the restriction will apply before reconsideration is given. Information relating to how the individual can appeal a decision will also be provided.

Examples of restrictions which may be considered include:

• restricting contact to one point of contact
• restricting how contact can be made
• limiting the contact to one form only and for a certain number of times (for example, communication to be in writing, which will be responded to once a fortnight or month, unless we determine a matter requires more urgent attention)
• restricting telephone calls to specified days or times, or to voice messages only

The action above will be taken to support officers to consider the complaint and undertake their investigation. In all cases, appropriate records will be kept outlining the reasons for the action which has been taken and a date for when the action should be reviewed.