Any form of service failure during a funeral can have a traumatic effect. Sunderland City Council and the Charter for the Bereaved recognises this fact and the charter was conceived as a means of reducing and addressing failures. Sadly, things do go wrong, or are misinterpreted, and we recognise the importance of taking these instances seriously. If you have a grievance, we ask you to take the following action:

* Stage 1

Always complain "on the spot" if you have the opportunity. If you cannot do this yourself, you may be able to use your minister or funeral director as your advocate. If you fail to obtain a satisfactory response, move to the next stage.

* Stage 2

Contact your Local Authority and or Charter Member, either by telephone or in writing, and describe your grievance. An acknowledgement of the complaint should be received within 5 working days, followed by a conclusion and or explanation in writing within a further 10 working days. Your grievance should be addressed to:-

Technical Support Manager

Environmental Services

South Hylton House

Sunderland

SR4 0JL 

Tel: 0191 5534525

If you fail to obtain a satisfactory response, move to the next stage.

* Stage 3

Put your grievance in writing to the Charter Organiser , who will send an acknowledgement within 7 days. Your grievance will be investigated, by reference to your charter member or any other relevant person, and a written reply will be sent to you within 4 weeks of the date of acknowledgement. Where the matter is urgent, the response will be immediate, either by telephone or fax.

* Stage 4

If you continue to feel aggrieved, the Charter Organiser may offer to refer your complaint to an arbitrator. The arbitrator will be appointed by agreement with you.

* Stage 5

Whether or not arbitration is agreed, if the matter relates to a local authority, you have the right to refer your grievance to the Local Government Ombudsman in England, Wales and Scotland. The Local Government Ombudsman can look into complaints only about actions taken by a local authority and that authority should first have had the opportunity to investigate and respond to the complaint.