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Listening and Learning

A brief guide to our internal complaints procedure.

We aim to provide good service to all those who seek our help and advice. The ICR's response to your complaint referral is the last step of review and brings matters to a close. We do not operate an appeals procedure and it will not be possible for this office to undertake a further review of the complaint itself once this response has been given. This is because the ICR is the most senior person within this office to whom your concerns can be referred. However, if you have new information that you wish to be considered, please send it to us as soon as possible.

Referral to the ICR is the last step you can take as far as complaints about the Audit Commission are concerned. This is because the Audit Commission does not fall within the remit of an Ombudsman. However for other public bodies the ICR service covers, referral to the ICR is not the final step that you can take and requests for further review may be referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, or in the case of Land Registers Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

We welcome any and all comments about the way that we have dealt with you or handled your complaint referral. We treat all of this feedback seriously, looking to see whether we can improve the service that we offer to future customers.

When a complainant is dissatisfied with the service that we have provided, rather than with the decision we have made, we will respond in a timely, efficient and courteous manner. Complaints about our service can be made verbally or in writing by letter, fax or e-mail. In the first instance, complaints can be addressed to our Complaints Officer who will ensure that the matter is dealt with as quickly as possible and who will be able to answer any questions you may have.

We aim to resolve all complaints about our service as quickly as possible through an immediate and positive response. Where this is not possible, complaints will be fully considered and investigated, and answered openly and honestly.

Where we cannot resolve matters immediately, we make the following commitments:

1. We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours of receipt.
2. The ICR will respond personally to your complaint within 1 week.
3. If the ICR is unavailable, a preliminary response will be sent to you by our Office Manager. This will be followed by the response from the ICR as soon as practicable thereafter.
4. You need have no fear that the current or future service that you receive from this office will be in any way compromised.
5. We will seek to use any lessons learned from your experience to inform the way that we respond to others in the future.

We would like to remind you of your right to ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review your original complaint or to consider any dissatisfaction with our service. You must approach the Ombudsman through an MP. The Ombudsman's address is:

(Kindly note that this does not apply to complaints about the Audit Commission or our review of those complaints)

For Land Registers Northern Ireland, you can refer your complaint to: