Complaints
Please be aware, that in response to Government advice in relation to the spread of Covid-19, the majority of GMCA staff are working from home and therefore there may be a delay in responding to your complaint.
We aim to provide high-quality services for all members of the public. We accept that things can sometimes go wrong and we need to know when you are not happy with our service.
When you tell us what you are not happy with, we can try to put things right. In future, we can try to get it right first time. We will treat your complaint seriously and deal with your complaint positively. We see any complaints as an opportunity to improve the way we do things.
Our aims
We are committed to putting you first and providing quality customer service. This includes dealing with any complaint you may have.
We will:
- deal with your complaint quickly and fairly.
- tell you what is happening with your complaint and we will do everything we can to help you.
- do our best to treat the information you give us in confidence.
- explain our decision.
- use complaints to review and improve the way we provide services.
If you make a complaint, it will not affect your rights to receive or use Combined Authority service.
How do I make a complaint?
Before submitting a complaint to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) you should ensure that you have raised the complaint with the correct organisation. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has not replaced existing local authorities, individual councils of Greater Manchester’s ten districts deliver the vast majority of services for your community. Also, the GMCA has not replaced companies and organisations providing and managing public transport in Greater Manchester.
If you make a complaint to us that does not directly relate to an activity carried out by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority we will advise which organisation you should make your complaint to. If you have emailed or written to us we will pass your complaint onto the right organisation and let you know we have done this.
Police Complaints
Find out information on how to make a complaint against the police or Mayor/Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime and Fire or how you can request a review of a complaint that has been handled by the police.
Transport Complaints
If you have a complaint about any transport-related matter Transport for Greater Manchester’s Customer Engagement Team will be pleased to help. The team will make sure that any comments or complaints are logged and responded to or passed to the relevant third party operator (for example a bus company) so they can directly respond to the complainant.
Email customer.relations@tfgm.com
Twitter @OfficialTfGM (opens in a new tab)
Transport for Greater Manchester website (opens in a new tab)
Metrolink Complaints
Email customerservices@metrolink.co.uk
Twitter @MCRMetrolink (opens in a new tab)
Metrolink website (opens in a new tab)
If you have been through the complaints procedure of the appropriate transport provider and you are unhappy with the response provided you may wish to escalate your complaint to Transport for Greater Manchester who will work with the operator to resolve the issue.
You can also escalate your complaint to Transport Focus (opens in a new tab), whose contact details and complaint handling process can be found online at
Waste and Resources Complaints
If you have a complaint about a waste site in Greater Manchester (excluding Wigan), please put your complaint in an email to the operating waste contractor; SUEZ UK Ltd. They will respond directly to you.
Email ContractManagerGM.uk@suez.com
If you have been through the complaints procedure of the appropriate waste company and you are unhappy with the response provided you may wish to escalate your complaint to the GMCA Waste and Resource Team who will work with the waste contractor to investigate the issue.
Email GMWaste@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Call 0161 778 7110
Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership
If you have a complaint about Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership then you should can:
Email enquiries@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Call 0161 778 7000
Post
Complaints, The Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership c/o Head of Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team,
P.O. Box 532
Town Hall
Manchester
M60 2LA
The Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership follows the same complaints procedure as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is fully committed to providing the highest possible levels of service to the public of Greater Manchester. Your comments and complaints will help us to identify areas for improvement in our service delivery and result in a better and more responsive service.
Complaints Information - GMFRS Website (external link, opens in new tab)
How the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Deals with Complaints
We want to make sure that when you tell us that you are not happy with something your complaint is dealt with fairly and sorted out as quickly as possible. We have tried to make our complaints process as straight forward as possible, which is set out below.
Complaints relating to the outcome of a Police Review will not be considered under this process. Such complaints can only be dealt with by requesting a Judicial Review. Further information on this process is available through clicking on the link below:
Step One - Informal Complaint
Where possible, an officer of the GMCA will do their best to help resolve the issue for you. You can contact us by:
Email enquiries@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Call 0161 778 7000
Post
c/o Assistant Director - Governance and Scrutiny
GMCA
Broadhurst House
56 Oxford Street
Manchester
M1 6EU
When you contact us, please give us your name and address - including your postcode - and your phone number. If you prefer, you can ask a friend or relative to speak or write to us for you.
If you are not happy with the outcome of this you can go through a formal complaints procedure which is outlined below.
Step Two - Formal Complaint
If the officer have not been able to help put things right, or you are not happy with the result, the next step is for you to make a formal complaint.
At this stage, we need all the details of your complaint in writing. You can do this by:
Email enquiries@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Post
c/o Assistant Director - Governance and Scrutiny
GMCA
Broadhurst House
56 Oxford Street
Manchester
M1 6EU
Your complaint will be handled by a senior manager in the team you're complaining about.
For all complaints we will:
- let you know that your complaint has been received within 3 working days.
- provide you with a full response within 20 working days, or explain why it might take longer.
- give you details of who has investigated your complaint and their decision on it.
- advise you on how to take your complaint further if you are still unhappy with the result.
Step 3 - Complaint Review
If you have been through Steps 1 and 2 of the complaints procedure and you are still not happy with the results of the investigations, you can ask the GMCA’s monitoring officer to review your complaint. Please do this within 10 working days of receiving the outcome of your complaint.
The GMCA’s Monitoring Officer will write to you within three working days to let you know:
- that they are reviewing your complaint
- approximately how long it will take us to carry out the review
- when they will send out a written reply
We aim to complete a complaints review within 25 working days.
Dealing with Repeating Complaints
We are committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially, and to providing a high quality service to those who make them. However, there are occasions when contact from a complainant becomes too frequent or complex that it hinders our consideration of their complaints, or those made by other people. We refer to such complainants as either vexatious or unreasonably persistent, and in such cases we may take action to limit the contact the complainant has with us. Such occurrences are rare, and we will first write to the complainant to advise that their contact is no longer considered reasonable. Further information can be found in our Policy on the Management of Unreasonable Complainant Behaviour:
Policy on the management of unreasonable complainant behaviour (PDF, 200KB)
Policy on the management of unreasonable complainant behaviour (ODT, 320KB)
Complaints relating to the outcome of a Police Review can only be dealt with by requesting a Judicial Review. Further information on this process is available through clicking on the link below:
Form N461: Apply for a judicial review of a decision (Gov.uk)
If you'd like to take things further – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
We really hope we are able to resolve any complaints you might have. If however, you are unhappy with the action we have taken, you may want to contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
You can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman about your complaint at any time. However, the Ombudsman usually gives the Combined Authority the opportunity to investigate first.
You can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman by:
Post
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 OEH
Phone 0300 061 0614
Text 'call back' to 0762 480 3014
Visit Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman website (opens in a new tab)
You can get leaflets about how to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman from any of Council's offices or any library.
Is there anyone else who can help?
Apart from asking for help from a friend or relative, you can contact an independent person or organisation, for example:
- your local councillor -If you know the ward name of the council area you live in go to the council's website and search for your councillor.
- your MP (opens in a new tab)
- Citizen's Advice Bureau (opens in a new tab)
You can contact your councillor at any time about your complaint. The councillor will normally ask the senior manager dealing with your complaint to provide details of why you complained and what they have done to put things right.
Comments and suggestions
As well as learning from complaints, we want to know any comments or suggestions you may have that will help us improve our services. You can do this by telling a member of staff about your comment or suggestion or by putting your comment or suggestion in writing. You can contact us by sending an email or by writing to us.
Email enquiries@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm worried that if I complain, the service I receive will be affected
Definitely not. We always aim to provide the best possible service to all our customers, and we will not change that just because we are investigating your complaint.
Is the information I give you confidential?
Any information you give us is covered by Data Protection guidelines. This means that we - will keep personal data safe and secure; will not share it with other organisations without advising you of this, unless the law says we must; and may use it to prevent and detect fraud.
I want to make a complaint, but want to stay anonymous - will you still look into it?
Yes. While it is helpful to us to know who you are so we can get in touch with you for extra details, we believe everyone has a right to complain. As a result we will investigate anonymous complaints thoroughly.