The North Kent Marshes Water Level Management Board administered from this office has a standard procedure for dealing with complaints from members of the public and others to ensure complaints are investigated fairly and fully and dealt with in a consistent way.

Should you be unhappy or concerned about anything relating to the IDB’s work, then in the first instance please contact us at enquiries@northkentwlmb.org.uk

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing and tell you who is dealing with it and how they can be contacted. We will investigate your complaint and, where possible, send a response within 15 working days. If the matter requires a longer investigation, we will advise you and let you know when a full reply will be sent.

If you are not satisfied with our reply, please let us know why. If possible, we will investigate further and review your concerns at a more senior level. We would look to provide a further reply within 15 working days.

If you remain dissatisfied you may refer your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman, who is entirely independent of the authorities and who investigates allegations of maladministration causing injustice to the person who has complained.

However, the Ombudsman will normally expect you to have tried to settle your complaint with the authority first. Any complaint must involve more than a disagreement and needs to show that something went wrong and that an injustice was caused.

The Local Government Ombudsman has a leaflet called “Complaint to the Council? How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman.” While the leaflet refers to Councils, the same principles apply equally to the IDB’s administered from this office. There is also a leaflet on the LGO website entitled “How the Ombudsman will deal with your complaint.” You can get a copy of these leaflets by telephoning their advice line on 0300 0610614 or downloading them from their website at  www.lgo.org.uk.