Email sent to Bristol City Council Chief Executive Jan Ormondroyd this weekend appealing for her to review my complaint about the council not following its own green spaces policy:I've been looking at the council complaints policy and conclude that Stage 3 involves a review by the Chief Executive. I asked Complaints Manager Tim Sheppard about this and was told that 'The CX will not have "reviewed" your complaint but she will have read it and will be aware of the issues.' Having pondered this I find myself somewhat confused.
Tim did confirm to me that the council complaints system had been exhausted (leaving me free to approach the Ombudsman) but I dont think this can be considered the case until you have reviewed it. Can you confirm that the council complaints policy involves, in Stage 3, a review by the Chief Executive?
Can you confirm a) that you have read my complaint and are aware of the issues b) that you will now review my complaint or do whatever is required to fully comply with council complaints policy?
Sorry to be a pain but I really must insist that you conduct a review, unless you can explain that its not a compulsory part of council policy of course. This is because I need to ensure that I've gone through the whole of the council complaints procedure before it can be considered exhausted. I dont want to go to the Ombudsman only to find that they reject what I send, telling me to get back on to you/the council. This would represent considerable waste of time and effort.
Many of the key issues are addressed in the most recent exchanges between Tim Sheppard and myself ( see below).
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In addition to a response to the above email I'm also awaiting a reply from Complaints Manager Tim Sheppard to the points I made in the post below. I'm also waiting for a response to my request for a meeting with David Bishop, Strategic Director for City Development and Regeneration at the council and Steven McNamara, Head of Legal Services at the council. I've also sent a message to George Ferguson asking if he is willing to meet with me to discuss modifying the cycle houses development plans and a range of other matters (I previously contacted him but had no ackowledgement).
Yay! Make Jan put her signature on the nonsense!
ReplyDeletewhat exactly does Jan do for all that money, read emails and do nothing?
ReplyDeleteI'll do it for half the price!
Keep at it Glen!
Received this reply from the Chief Exec on 26 Nov saying that she is satisfied that the council has acted properly:
ReplyDeleteDear Mr Vowles
Thankyou for your email. As Chief Executive there is a final stage in our process where complaints are brought to my attention to enable me to decide whether it requires a personal intervention.
I am familiar with your complaint and the issues you have raised and I am satisfied on the basis of what I have seen, and on the basis of what I have been told, that the Council has acted properly.
If you have remaining concerns then please do refer them to the Ombudsman.
I confirm that if you do submit a complaint that the Council will not seek to have the complaint referred back to it, but will support an objective and external review of the decision making process. I am satisfied that on that basis the Ombudsman will not refer the matter back.
Yours sincerely,
Jan Ormondroyd
Chief Executive