Ashley Gardner 10:18 PM (0 minutes ago) to Huw Dear Huw Daniel, Re: Reference number; 201304881 Complaint against Flintshire County Council Following my complaint made to you on 5th May 2013 it was recommended that my complaint be referred back to Flintshire County Council to allow them the opportunity to address my concerns. The complaint was referred back to Flintshire County Council and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about how they have treated my complaint in the process. Following your advice to refer back to the Council they asked me to provide further information, which I did. Unfortunately despite me telling them that I wanted them to answer the complaint that I had originally submitted to you they have not done so. They have neglected to answer many of the points I raised in my complaint. I should also add that my complaint was not processed within the agreed timescales- I was advised of delays at the last minute, and in all, according to their own procedure the complaint has taken 3 times longer to turn around than it should have done. The Councils failure to respond to me within its own timescales was also an issue raised within my original complaint, so I feel that their failure to adhere to their own timescales in this latest instance only further compounds what I had originally stated. At the end of the Councils response to my complaint they advised I should contact you if I was not happy with their reply. I assume this means I have exhausted the Councils own complaints procedure policy. I feel that Flintshire County Council have selectively focused on a small number of the points I raised and have failed to address the main body of my complaint. In some instances, in particular in regard to what has been termed the definitive statement of Network Rail, Flintshire County Council have provided an answer which is factually inaccurate, a repetition of information they had previously provided to me and about which I had already made them aware was incorrect. This would suggest that rather than investigate they have simply re-iterated a stock answer. To my mind it demonstrates that they have little interest in properly investigating or resolving my complaint. There were numerous points unanswered, in particular there was no mention of the complaint I made surrounding the correspondence, the lack of replies and the relationship between my group and Flintshire County Council. Even though I have explained that we feel the Council have not treated us fairly and feel that they have not been transparent in their response to us regarding our proposed restoration plans. This point was not addressed at all. I have explained that we believe that Flintshire County Council have failed in their duties to us by not offering the appropriate assistance and legal guidance to us, and that their behavior has obstructed our attempts to make progress. They have not addressed this point. I have repeatedly asked the Council to provide me with information that they have relied upon in the correspondence with our group. They have not addressed this point. I am not satisfied that the Council have failed to explain how they can state they have information on which they have used to make a decision, but fail to provide that information to me when I requested it. In their response the Council have failed to explain why it has not responded to my reasonable requests for information and have failed to explain why it has delayed in answering my correspondence or complaints or why they chose to ignore me after I pointed out that the definitive statement was untrue. If you look at my file you will see from the number of times I have had to write about restoring the ship, either asking the same questions, or chasing replies, it has taken me considerable time and effort to try to obtain information from the Council. I have found it really hard to access the right service consistently, due to a number of hand offs between individual officers and unnecessary delays in replying to me. I have complained about this but they have not addressed the point. I have complained that the Council have never told me what I should expect from them nor what they expect from me and there have been delays of months in getting replies. I have complained that throughout my dealings with the Council no one has given me any proper advice, told me what my rights are or given me any practical help to navigate my way through the services. The Council have not addressed any of these points. I have complained that the Council has not always readily answered my letters and that I have had to chase up my enquiries and that in doing so I felt the Council have not met its commitments or service standards. The Council have not addressed this point. I have complained that the Council have not committed themselves in writing when asked to clarify a previous decision or current position. I have complained that this was unhelpful and has caused confusion and delays. The Council have not addressed this point. Despite the points I made about this in my complaint, there are no references in the response to me concerning the remit of the Chief Executive in this matter or why the Leader of the Council and other senior officials became involved without my prior knowledge or request. This escalation was questioned but no one has provided any explanation as to why this happened. I am not satisfied with the Councils response. I feel that there are numerous points unanswered, and have described to you just a few. I would be grateful if you could look again at my complaint and compare this with the Councils response and seek answers to all of the complaints and requests that remain unaddressed upon my behalf. I look forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely, Ashley Gardner (Ms)
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 21:20:48 +0000
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