PROTECT

We are committed to keeping your information secure. As part of that commitment we have decided that when we send you information by email we may have to remove some details. This includes information that may identify you, any other person and sometimes the body complained about. 

Dear Sir

Our reference: EN-185489 (please quote in any future correspondence)

Thank you for your complaint of 26 February 2014 about Jobcentre Plus. You complain that Jobcentre Plus has closed your claim and not responded to your emails. I was sorry to learn of your concerns.

You have also mentioned the police and HM Revenue and Customs in your email; however, I understand that we have recently responded to you separately in connection with those organisations, so I am focusing this response on Jobcentre Plus.

At this time we have decided that we should wait until you have completed Jobcentre Plus’s complaints process before we look at your concerns further. This is because we often find that organisations themselves are in the best position to resolve complaints about their service quickly and effectively. It is also important for organisations to have full opportunity to resolve complaints themselves before we become involved.

In addition to their internal complaints process Jobcentre Plus also have a second tier to their complaints procedure called the Independent Case Examiner. Their role is to look at how Jobcentre Plus deal with their cases. We expect you to have been to the Independent Case Examiner and received their final decision before you bring your complaint to us.

In order to continue with your complaint, you should write to the manager of your local office of Jobcentre Plus and tell them why you are dissatisfied with the service you have received. I suggest you title the letter “Formal complaint”.

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive from your local office of Jobcentre Plus, you should ask the Director General of Operations at the Department for Work and Pensions to look into your complaint. His contact details will be given to you when the local office responds to your complaint.

The Independent Case Examiner considers complaints about Jobcentre Plus’s service when the Director General of Operations has completed a review. You can read more about the Independent Case Examiner at the following website: http://www.ind-case-exam.org.uk.

If the Independent Case Examiner is unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can then return to the Ombudsman. If you do need to return to us, it is important that the Independent Case Examiner have provided you with their final response to your complaint, and confirmed that there is nothing further that they can do to try to resolve your concerns. 

At that stage you will need to ask an MP to refer your complaint to us, as we cannot consider a complaint about Jobcentre Plus unless it has been referred to us by an MP. You can find out who your MP is using the following website: www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ or by telephoning the House of Commons Information Office on: 020 7219 4272.

The easiest way to bring your complaint to us is by completing our complaint form and then passing it to your MP to sign. I have attached a copy of our form, which can also be downloaded from our website at: www.ombudsman.org.uk.

When you complete the form, please make sure you give us as much information as you can, as this will help us to deal with your complaint as quickly as possible.  In particular, you will need to:

• explain what was wrong with the response(s) you have already received to your complaint;


• say what you want us to achieve for you;
• send us copies of any relevant correspondence and papers that you have;


• give written permission for us to obtain any papers and records connected to the complaint; and
• confirm whether you are taking legal action about it (because, by law, that may prevent us from looking at the complaint).

I hope this information is clear and assists you in taking your complaint forward.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Riley

Customer Services Officer

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

T: 0300 061 1511

E: andrew.riley@ombudsman.org.uk

W: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Follow us on

   

If you think our decision is wrong, you can request a review. To enable us to review our decision you must provide us with evidence that our decision was based on inaccurate information; or you have new information that was not previously available to us; or we overlooked or misunderstood your complaint. To request a review, you can complete a ‘What to do if you think our decision is wrong’ form, which is available on our website: www.ombudsman.org.uk. Alternatively, you can contact me for the form. You would need to submit your review request form to us within three months of the date of this email.

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by Government Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied exclusively by Cable & Wireless in partnership with MessageLabs. On leaving the GSI this email was certified virus free. All email communications with PHSO pass through the Government Secure Intranet, and may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes. The MessageLabs Anti Virus Service is the first managed service to achieve the CSIA Claims Tested Mark (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007), the UK Government quality mark initiative for information security products and services. For more information about this please visit www.cctmark.gov.uk