CDS Co-operatives aims to provide high quality services to our residents and to the management committees of our client co-operatives.

However, we recognise that sometimes things do go wrong and that when they do, that this may cause distress, inconvenience or even additional expense to service users. If we have not delivered the quality of service that we have agreed to provide, we want to know about it.

To make a complaint please use leaflet CL3

This webpage provides a basic guide to our complaints policy and procedure for management committees of client co-operatives who are dissatisfied with the service they have received.

Before you make a complaint

If we have failed to provide an adequate service to your co-op or to the committee, we would like you to tell us what you feel we have got wrong. However, before you make a formal complaint we do expect you to have made a reasonable effort to resolve the problem with the member of staff responsible for providing the service. If you are not sure who this is, you can ask your co-op support officer or the housing services manager.

Make sure your complaint represents the committee’s opinion

It is important that committee members appreciate that the status of formal complaints made by co-op committees is different to that of complaints made by individual residents.

Tenants, co-op members and homeowners can ultimately take their complaint to the independent housing ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the response we provide, whereas co-op committees instead have the right to formally declare themselves to be "in dispute" with CDS's board of management and ask for independent arbitration.

A complaint from a committee should therefore represent the views of the majority of the committee and not just the personal opinions of a single member. The decision to make a formal complaint should be approved by the committee, ideally at a committee meeting. If one member of the committee is delegated to make the complaint, they should try to ensure that what they write represents the views of the other committee members.

If you are a committee member, but you are dissatisfied because of a problem which only affects you or your home, rather than because of a problem with a service provided to the co-op as a whole, it may be more appropriate for you to make your complaint as an individual resident using complaints form CL1. If you not sure which sort of complaint to make, you can ask your co-op support officer or the housing services manager for advice.