Winterbourne Abbas & Steepleton Parish Council
Complaints Procedure
The parish council would hope that any issues can be addressed and rectified in an informal and friendly manner.
The parish council would ask that any alleged issue is initially brought to the attention of the clerk or chairman by email or by letter to the addresses below.
If the complaint is about a councillor’s failure to comply with the parish council code of Conduct, the matter will be directed to the Monitoring Office at Dorset Council. If the complaint is about the clerk, the parish council will pursue this through its internal disciplinary process. If any criminal act is suspected, Dorset Police will be contacted.
If it is felt that the parish council's response or resolution of the request is not satisfactory, then an individual can make a formal complaint to the parish council.
In this event, the parish council will
1). Acknowledge Receipt: Upon receipt of the complaint, the parish council will check that the complaint has come from an appropriate person as third parties may not be allowed to access someone else’s personal data. As soon as this has been established, the parish council will respond to say that the complaint will be investigated within 15 days and the clerk or chairman will be given as a point of contact.
2) Finding out what has gone wrong: The parish council will deal with any complaints as soon as possible, gathering all information that is available and checking this fairly and for accuracy. If necessary, more information may be asked for to allow this checking process.
3) Regular Updates: After its initial response, the parish council will give regular updates on progress using concise and plain language.
4) Record of actions: The parish council will keep a record of the progress of dealing with the complaint with dates of correspondence and actions taken. The reasons for decisions will also be recorded.
5) Response to the complaint: Once the parish council has completed its investigations, it will inform the person making the complaint of the outcome. An explanation of what has been done to resolve the issue plus any steps taken as a result will be given. Where possible the issues will be addressed separately with appropriate evidence for each.
6) Review of any lessons to be learnt: Having responded to the complaint, the parish council will take the opportunity to review what had happened and consider anything that can be learnt and improved to prevent future complaints.
Updated May 2026