Complaints handling and complaints procedure
May 2026
Stoke Poges Parish Council is committed to providing a quality service for the benefit of the people who live or work in its area or are visitors to the locality. If you are dissatisfied with the standard of service you have received from this Council or are unhappy about an action or lack of action by the Council, this Complaints Procedure sets out how you may complain to the Council and how the Council will seek to resolve your complaint.
This Complaints Procedure applies to complaints about Council administration and procedures and may include complaints about how Council employees have dealt with your concerns.
This Complaints Procedure does not apply to:
- complaints by one Council employee against another Council employee, or between a Council employee and the Council as employer. These matters are dealt with under the Council’s disciplinary and grievance procedures.
- complaints against councillors. Complaints against councillors are covered by the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council under the Localism Act 2011 and, if a complaint against a councillor is received by the Council, it will be referred to the Monitoring Officer of Buckinghamshire Council. Further information on the process of dealing with complaints against councillors may be obtained from the Monitoring Officer.
- matters where there is a right of appeal to a tribunal, statutory body, or where legal proceedings are in progress.
The appropriate time for influencing Council decision-making is by raising your concerns before the Council debates and votes on a matter. You may do this by writing to the Council in advance of the meeting at which the item is to be discussed. There may also be the opportunity to raise your concerns in the public participation section of Council meetings. If you are unhappy with a Council decision, you may raise your concerns with the Council, but Standing Orders prevent the Council from re-opening issues for six months from the date of the decision, unless there are exceptional grounds to consider this necessary or new evidence or information which was not previously known, and the special process set out in the Standing Orders is followed. This Complaints Procedure cannot be used to overturn a lawful decision of the Council.
You may make your complaint about the Council’s procedures or administration to the Clerk. You may do this in writing (including email), in person, or by telephone. The addresses and contact details are set out below.
Wherever possible, the Clerk will seek to resolve your complaint immediately. If this is not possible, the Clerk will normally acknowledge your complaint within five working days (unless the clerk is on sick or annual leave) and advise you how the complaint will be progressed.
If you do not wish to report your complaint to the Clerk, you may make your complaint directly to the Chairman of the Council, who will report your complaint to the Clerk and/or Full Council as appropriate.
The Clerk of the Council or the Council (as appropriate) will investigate each complaint, obtaining further information as necessary from you and/or from staff or members of the Council. Where appropriate, the complaint may be considered by the Full Council or a committee or panel of councillors in accordance with Standing Orders.
The Clerk or the Chairman of the Council will notify you within 20 working days of the outcome of your complaint and of what action (if any) the Council proposes to take as a result of your complaint. (In exceptional cases the twenty working days timescale may have to be extended. If it is, you will be kept informed.) The decision of the Council shall be final, subject to the provisions of Standing Orders.
Contacts
The Clerk of Stoke Poges Parish Council Address: The Village Centre, Rogers Lane, Stoke Poges, Bucks, SL2 4LP.
Telephone: 01753 644803
Email: theclerk@stokepogesparishcouncil.gov.uk