Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council is committed to providing the best possible services to customers, residents and visitors to the Borough. We pride ourselves on delivering services well and having staff that are committed to doing a good job. We recognise that on occasions either the delivery or quality of our services may fall short or exceed both ours and/or our customers’ expectations and when this happens we want our residents, customers and visitors to let us know.
As a Council we value all customer feedback good or bad and use this information to both improve and develop services to meet the needs of both customers and local communities.
Compliments
If you have experienced a good service from the Council, had a good experience at one of our events or want to praise one of our staff for doing a good job please contact us on the below contacts details.
Compliments are important as it enables us to evaluate how well our services are being delivered and recognise staff who may go over and above what is expected to give residents and visitors a positive experience. We share and promote examples of good practice across service areas and use your feedback to understand what is important to our customers.
If you want to report a compliment please complete the Corporate Compliments Form online. Please use a browser such as Chrome, Edge or Safari to use the form. It will not work in Internet Explorer.
Alternatively, you can contact the Council in the following ways:
For all Council services (except Social Services)
Call: (01495) 311556
Email: info@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk
For Social Services Complaints and Compliments
Complaints
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council is committed to dealing effectively with any concerns or complaints you may have about our services. We believe in treating people fairly and with respect, and listening to our conscience and acting with integrity.
We aim to clarify any issues you may be unsure about. If possible, we will put right any mistakes we may have made. We will provide any service you are entitled to which we have failed to deliver. If we did something wrong, we will apologise and, where possible, try to put things right for you. We aim to learn from our mistakes and use the information we gain from complaints to improve our services.
Concerns and Complaints Policy
Stage 1: Informal Resolution
We will acknowledge your complaint within 1 working day and investigate your complaint within 10 working days.
If we cannot meet these deadlines we will let you know why and keep in contact with you. We will contact you by the method and language of your choice.
If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we first need to satisfy ourselves that you have the authority to act on behalf of the person concerned.
We will treat your complaint as confidential unless it is a matter that must be reported such as an illegal activity.
We will deal with your concern in an open and honest way, and make sure that your dealings with us in the future do not suffer just because you have expressed a concern or made a complaint.
Normally we will only be able to look at your complaint if you tell us within 9 months. This is because it is better to look at matters while they are still fresh in everyone’s minds.
If you have a complaint please complete the Corporate Complaints Form online. Please use a browser such as Chrome, Edge or Safari to use the form. It will not work in Internet Explorer.
Alternatively, you can contact the Council in the following ways:
For all Council services (except Social Services)
Call: (01495) 311556
Email: info@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk
For Social Services Complaints and Compliments
Stage 2: Formal Investigation
If it has not been possible to resolve your concerns at Stage 1 then you may be able to request a formal investigation of your case. You will need to submit this directly to the Corporate Complaints Officer as soon as possible (usually within 20 working days of receiving your Stage 1 response) and state the specific reasons why you do not believe your complaint has been addressed at Stage 1.
We will acknowledge your request for your complaint to be addressed under Stage 2 within 5 working days and attempt to investigate and respond to matters within 20 working days. It is important to note however that it may take longer to undertake our investigations of your complaint but if this is the case, we will keep you informed accordingly.
Please note that we will not usually consider complaints about things which occurred, or matters you became aware of, more than six months ago. If you are complaining about something that happened more than six months ago, please make sure you state why you have not notified us of your complaint sooner so that we can take this into consideration. We will write to you explaining our decision to either investigate, or our refusal to investigate, your complaint as soon as possible.
Please contact:
Melanie Rogers-Griffin
Corporate Complaints Officer
Telephone: (01495) 355090
Email: melanie.rogers@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the way your complaint has been handled or if you believe the Council has not fully addressed the issues you have raised, you may wish to refer matters to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
The Ombudsman will usually expect you to bring your concerns to our attention in the first instance.
If you wish to make a complaint to the Ombudsman or if you are unhappy with the way the Council has managed your complaint, please write to:
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae
Pencoed
Bridgend CF35 5LJ
Telephone: 0300 790 0203 (local call rate)
E-mail: ask@ombudsman.wales
Website: www.ombudsman.wales
Welsh Language Complaints
Welsh Language, Standards & Compliance.
Complaints or Concerns regarding the Welsh Language will follow the timeframes and steps highlighted in the Council’s policy. The Council, as this policy has already referred to, will make sure that the investigating officers consult with any relevant legislation before determining whether the authority or service area has acted in accordance with legislative requirements or in line with approved policies and procedures.
Officers are aware of the Welsh Language Standards having attended training, and this Complaints and Concerns Policy via briefings. Officers will follow this corporate approach when dealing with a complaint concerning the Welsh Language and our Standards and are able to consult with the authority’s Compliance Officer and Service Manager for the Welsh Language for further advice.
If you have a complaint please complete the Corporate Complaints Form online. Please use a browser such as Chrome, Edge or Safari to use the form. It will not work in Internet Explorer.
Alternatively, you can contact the Council in the following ways:
Call: (01495) 311556
Email: info@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk
If you feel that the complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily or that someone is interfering with your freedom to use Welsh, you may complain directly to the Welsh Language Commissioner. You can contact the Welsh Language Commissioner by:
- Phone: 0845 6033221
- Email: post@welshlanguagecommissioner.org
- Writing to: The Welsh Language Commissioner, Market Chambers, 5-7 St. Mary Street, Cardiff CF10 1AT
Further Help
Our staff will aim to help you make your concerns known to us. If you need extra assistance, we will try to put you in touch with someone who can help. You may wish to contact organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau, Advocacy Support Cymru, Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Age Cymru, Shelter who may be able to assist you.