Complaints made by a responsible body (e.g., a local authority, NHS body, primary-care provider, or independent provider) about services they themselves provide.
Complaints by employees of a local authority or NHS body regarding their own employment.
Complaints with the same subject matter as one previously made and resolved under the same regulation (Reg 8(1)(c)).
Complaints whose subject matter was already investigated under:
These 2009 Regulations, or
The 2004 NHS Complaints Regulations (for complaints made before 1 April 2009), or
The 2006 Social Services Complaints Regulations (for those pre‑April 2009), or
A “relevant complaints procedure” (also pre‑April 2009).
Complaints that are being—or have been—considered by:
A Local Government Commissioner under the Local Government Act 1974, or
The Health Service Commissioner (Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman) under the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993.
Complaints arising from an alleged failure to comply with a Freedom of Information Act 2000 request.
Complaints relating to superannuation schemes or compensation for loss of office, under the Superannuation Act 1972 (sections 10 or 24), or arising from their administration.
The person complaining (or their representative) can appeal or ask for a review of the organisation’s actions through an internal appeal or review process. Organisations may operate internal review and appeal mechanisms across a wide range of services where there is no subsequent statutory right of appeal to another body such as a court of tribunal.
Complaints solely about Data Protection (Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (EU) 2016/679)
Organisations may decide to deal with complaints which are purely about how it has handled a person’s personal data through a separate process. If a person making the complaint is unhappy with the organisation’s response, they may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). However, some complaints may contain elements which relate to how a person’s data has been processed by the organisation alongside other related matters. Where this is the case complaints should be dealt with under the Code. At the end of the process person making the complaints should be signposted to the ICO and LGSCO.
The person complaining (or their representative) has previously had a complaint about the same matter considered under the organisation’s complaints policy or by the Ombudsman.
Once a complaint has been considered through the complaints process or by the Ombudsman it would not be a good use of the organisation’s finite resources to revisit the matter.
Organisations should be conscious of changes in a person’s circumstances or further contact with services which may give rise to a legitimate new complaint.
Organisations should not exclude complaints where a person is complaining the organisation has failed to fulfil its promises made as part of local complaints processes. We would expect an organisation to issue a further final complaint response, explaining why it failed to fulfil any promises, the action it will take to put things right and signpost to the Ombudsman. This means person making the complaints are not forced to go back through the complaints process for a second time.
The complaint relates to personnel matters, including recruitment, pay, grievances, removals, discipline and pensions.
The purpose of the complaints process is to deal with relationships between service providers and service users, and not an organisation’s actions as an employer or potential employer. Complaints from staff about matters relating to their employment should be dealt with through personnel policies. Although the actions of an organisation when recruiting staff may not be challenged through personnel processes, they relate to the organisation’s actions as an employer and it would not normally be appropriate to deal with concerns raised about recruitment through the complaints process.
Members of the public will sometimes ask for disciplinary action to be taken as part of the resolution of the complaint. That is not a reason for excluding a complaint on the grounds that it relates to personnel matters. The complaint isn’t a ‘’personnel matter’ just because of a desired outcome. It is for an organisation to decide whether individual action against an employee is required following investigation of a complaint, however the details of any action taken is the personal data of the employee and so should not be shared with the person making the complaint.
