Minister’s Advice is to Complain – Through the Proper Channels
Andrew Turner - Island MP Press Release, 17th March 2008
Many parents and other people have contacted Andrew Turner the Island’s MP saying that they felt that the recent schools consultation has been flawed for a variety of reasons. Islanders have told him that they feel information given was either unclear or subsequently proved inaccurate. Others have complained that the consultation questionnaire was too complex for them to complete in full – as the form said they were required to do - or that there was no way on the form to represent their views accurately and that advice changed during the consultation process.
Mr Turner raised these concerns during a recent meeting with the Minister for Schools Lord Adonis. The message from the Minister was that if Islanders feel that they have not been able to put their views across then they should make a formal complaint to the Isle of Wight Council, and if dissatisfied at the end of that process, the matter can be escalated to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).
Mr Turner said:
“Lord Adonis was very clear that he is unable to intervene in these matters and if people wish to complain about such issues they must follow the proper procedures. The LGO is not able to investigate complaints just because you might disagree with a
decision made by the Council but is there to investigate complaints about how the Council has done something. It is an independent, impartial and free service.”
END Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808 or mobile 07799 866466
Information : In the first instance anybody who feels they wish to complain should write to the Isle of Wight Council making it clear that they wish their concerns to be treated as a formal complaint, they can also complain on line http://www.iow.gov.uk/council/publicServices/councilComplaints.aspx. Information about the Local Government Ombudsman service can be found at www.lgo.org.uk
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March 19th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Thank you Andrew for trying on our behalf. Obviously the key words are “……but is there to investigate complaints about how the Council has done something.”
The clues here then are the so called ‘consultation’ meetings and the rigged public consultation form which should have allowed an option 4 and a chance to comment without having to fill in the rest of the content.