The National Park Authority is committed to dealing effectively with any concerns or complaints you may have about our service.

We aim to clarify any issues about which you are not sure. If possible, we’ll put right any mistakes we may have made. If we get something wrong, we’ll apologise and where possible we’ll try and put things right. We also aim to learn from our mistakes and use the information we gain to improve our services.

When to use this policy

When you express your concerns or complain to us, we will usually respond in the way we explain below.  However, sometimes you may have a statutory right of appeal, for example against a refusal to grant you planning permission, so rather than investigate your concern, we will explain to you how you can appeal. Sometimes, you might be concerned about matters that are not decided by us and we will then advise you about how to make your concerns known.

Informal resolution

If possible, we believe it’s best to deal with things straight away rather than try to sort them out later. If you have a concern, raise it with the person you’re dealing with. He or she will try and resolve it for you there and then. If there are any lessons to learn from addressing your concern then the member of staff will draw them to our attention.  If the member of staff can’t help, they will explain why and you can then ask for a formal investigation.

How to complain formally

You can complain in any of the ways below:

  • You can complete our Complaints Form
  • You can get in touch with our central complaint contact point on 01766 772530, if you want to make your complaint over the phone.
  • You can e-mail us at park@snowdonia.gov.wales
  • You can write a letter to us at the following address:
    Snowdonia National Park Authority
    National Park Office
    Penrhyndeudraeth
    Gwynedd
    LL48 6LF

We aim to have complaint forms available at all our service outlets and public areas.

Download Complaints Form

Dealing with your complaint

  • We will formally acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and let you know how we intend to deal with it.
  • We will ask you to tell us how you would like us to communicate with you and establish whether you have any particular requirements – for example, if you are disabled.
  • We will deal with your complaint in an open and honest way.
  • We will make sure that your dealings with us in future do not suffer just because you have expressed a concern or made a complaint.

If you’re complaining on behalf of someone else, we’ll need their agreement to you acting on their behalf.

Investigation

We will tell you who we have asked to look into your complaint. If your complaint is straightforward, we’ll usually ask the Head of Service to look into it and get back to you. In other cases, we will ask the Director of the Service to investigate.

We will aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and expect to deal with the vast majority within 15 working days. The person who is investigating your complaint will aim first to establish the facts.

In some instances, we may ask to meet you to discuss your complaint.

We’ll look at relevant evidence.  This could include files, notes of conversations, letters, e-mails or whatever may be relevant to your particular complaint. If necessary, we’ll talk to staff or others involved and look at our polices and any legal entitlement and guidance.

Outcome

If we formally investigate your complaint, we will let you know what we have found.  We’ll explain how and why we came to our conclusions.

  • If we find that we got it wrong, we’ll tell you what and why it happened.
  • If we find there is a fault in our systems or the way we do things, we’ll tell you what it is and how we plan to change things to stop it happening again.
  • If we got it wrong, we will always apologise.

Ombudsman

If we do not succeed in resolving your complaint, you may complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The Ombudsman is independent of all government bodies and can look into your complaint if you believe that you personally, or the person on whose behalf you are complaining:

  • have been treated unfairly or received bad service through some failure on behalf of the body providing it
  • have been disadvantaged personally by a service failure or have been treated unfairly.

The Ombudsman expects you to bring your complaint to our attention first and to give us a chance to put things right.  You can contact the Ombudsman by:

Telephone: 0845 601 0987

Email: ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk

Website: www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk

Writing: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, 1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed CF35 5LJ

What we expect from you

We believe that all complainants have the right to be heard, understood and respected. However, we also consider that our staff have the same rights. We therefore, expect you to be polite and courteous in your dealings with us. We will not tolerate aggressive or abusive behaviour, unreasonable demands or unreasonable persistence.