Definition of a ‘complaint’
Whether about the council itself, a person acting on its behalf, or a partnership, a complaint is:
- an expression of dissatisfaction or concern
- either written or spoken or made by any other communication method
- made by one or more members of the public
- about the Council’s action or lack of action
- about the standard of service provided
A complaint is not:
- an initial request for a service, such as reporting a missed bin collection
- an appeal against a properly made decision
- a means to seek change to legislation or a properly made policy decision
- a means for lobbying groups/organisations to seek to promote a cause
The Concerns and Complaints Policy forms part of Isle of Anglesey Council Constitution (section 5.7).
Complaints can usually be dealt with on the spot by having a word with the person providing the service. This could be a receptionist, staff at the local leisure centre, a van driver or roadmen.
If you have a general complaint, enquiry or comment about the Isle of Anglesey County Council or about Council services please fill in our online form.
Official complaint
If your problem cannot be settled there and then, you are able to make an official complaint.
You can make an official complaint online or by downloading the official complaints form from this page and sending it to: The Corporate Information and Complaints Officer, Legal Section, Council Offices, Llangefni, LL77 7TW
You can also:
Social services
Please note that there is a separate complaints procedure for social services.
Education
School complaints
We are unable to respond to complaints about individual schools. The Education Act 2002 requires that the governing bodies of all maintained schools in Wales establish procedures for dealing with complaints from parents, pupils, staff, governors and members of the local community.
The school will have a complaints policy/procedure which can be found either on their website or by contacting the school.
In the first instance, the complaint should be discussed with the headteacher, who can also provide further guidance on the complaints procedure within the school. All school complaints policies should follow the guidance issued by the Welsh Government (School Governing Body Complaints Procedures: Circular No 011/2012) which is a three stage procedure:
Stage A
If you have a concern, you can often resolve it quickly by talking to the headteacher. You should expect a response within 10 school days but if this is not possible, the school should agree a revised timescale with you. The person overseeing your complaint will keep you informed of the progress being made.
If the complaint is about the headteacher then your complaint should be put in writing to the chair of governors directly and addressed to the school.
Stage B
If you feel that your initial complaint is not resolved or appropriately dealt with then you should put your complaint in writing to the headteacher.
Stage C
Escalation to Stage C should only occur in exceptional cases as it should be possible to resolve most complaints at Stage B. However, if you still feel that your complaint has not been dealt with fairly then you should write, through the school’s address, to the chair of governors, setting out your reasons for asking the governing body’s complaints committee to consider your complaint. You will not have to write down the details of your complaint again.
The governing body’s complaints committee has the final say on complaints.
Welsh language complaints
If you wish to make a complaint relating to the Council’s compliance with Welsh Language Standards or a failure on the Council’s part to provide a bilingual service, please use this procedure.
You also have the right to directly refer any complaints relating to the Welsh language to the Welsh Language Commissioner