Tees Valley Combined Authority has a dedicated complaints procedure which is followed upon receipt of a complaint, an overview of which is given below.
We value your opinion and the compliments, comments and complaints that we receive help us to improve and develop.
Tell us if you're happy with the service you have received or if you have a suggestion for how it could be improved. You can do this by completing our online form, which will then be forwarded to the relevant department.
We understand that occasionally problems may arise and you may feel dissatisfied.
If you're unhappy about an issue, fill out our online form, which will be directed to the relevant department.
You can request the issue to be dealt with as a formal complaint using the online form.
To make it easier for us to resolve your complaint, you should provide us with as much information as possible, including the date you initially reported your complaint to the service and, if applicable, the online reference number provided when you submitted your complaint online.
Other ways to get in touch depending on which organisation is involved
By email
By post
Write to us setting out the organisation you wish to contact at:
Tees Valley Combined Authority
Teesside Airport Business Suite,
Teesside International Airport,
Darlington,
DL2 1NJ
By phone
If you can't use our online services, you can call us on 01325 792600 and a Customer Service Advisor will assist you.
We will not normally consider a complaint that is made more than one year after the individual first became aware of the issue they want to complain about. There are exceptions to this where the Combined Authority accepts that such a delay was reasonable.
We would not usually consider a complaint through its complaints procedure where there remains an outstanding route of appeal or other judicial process.
Stage 1: Resolution
You will receive an acknowledgement advising that your complaint has been logged as a Stage 1 formal complaint within five working days. This will provide you with details of who will be investigating your complaint.
The service investigator who wasn't involved in the original complaint will complete a meaningful and informed review and a response will be sent to you within ten working days.
The complaint will then be considered and, if appropriate, we will assess how improvements can be made so the same complaint does not arise again
Stage 2: Review
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can request to move to Stage 2. You must explain why you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Stage 1 investigation and what you think can be done to put matters right.
Your complaint will be reviewed by a Senior Manager who was not involved in the original complaint. The Senior Manager will not reinvestigate the complaint but will focus on understanding the continuing concerns and whether the Stage 1 Resolution process was done fairly and that the conclusions reached were reasonable. We aim to notify you of the outcome of the review within 15 working days.
If it isn't possible to complete Stage 1 or 2 within the specified timescales, you will be contacted and informed when to expect a response.
If we're unable to resolve your problem and you are still dissatisfied with your response, the matter can be brought before the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, for independent investigation. The Ombudsman is an independent body and will therefore expect that your complaint has been through the Combined Authority complaints process before they will become involved.
Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Tel: 0300 061 0614
If you wish to make a confidential complaint it will be treated in confidence and every effort will be made to protect your identity should you wish to remain anonymous. The complaint will be investigated in the same way as any other complaint. Anonymous complaints will also be investigated as far as is possible.
Each complaint we receive is logged and the records of these are kept and reported to our Senior Management Team and Cabinet (personal/confidential data is not released). We use this information to allow us to track where we may be failing and to allow us to improve our services.
Complaints against elected members
These are complaints that an elected member has breach the code of conduct. The code of conduct can be found here.
Whistleblowing
If you wish to voice a serious concern over alleged malpractice or alleged wrongdoing within the Combined Authority then you should follow the Whistleblowing procedure which can be found here.
Join us on social media for the latest news