We aim to resolve issues quickly and fairly. If something’s gone wrong, we’ll explain what happened, and use your feedback to improve our services.
Many problems can be resolved by contacting staff or the department concerned. Where possible, we’ll treat your concern as a service request and try to resolve it straight away, with your agreement.
If having done this, and you wish to register a formal complaint, use our online form.
What happens at each stage?
Stage 1
If we can’t resolve your service request and you ask us to look it to the concern further, this becomes a stage 1 complaint.
- We’ll acknowledge your complaint within five working days.
- A head of service will investigate and respond to you within 10 working days.
- If more time is needed (for complex issues), we’ll explain why and give you a new timescale (usually within an extra 10 days).
- If you’re unhappy with the response, you can ask for a stage 2 review.
Stage 2
If you remain dissatisfied, a member of our management team will review your complaint. This is now a stage 2 complaint.
- We’ll acknowledge your stage 2 request within five working days.
- You must include any new and relevant information relating to your complaint.
- A response will usually be provided within 20 working days.
- If more time is needed, we’ll tell you why and when you can expect a full reply.
The stage 2 response will explain:
- Our understanding of your complaint.
- Our decision and the reasons behind it.
- Any actions or remedies offered to put things right.
- How to contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if you’re still unhappy.
Ombudsman
If you remain dissatisfied, you may wish to take the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The ombudsman provides an independent national service that investigates complaints against councils. However, the ombudsman requires that you first try to find an answer through the council's own complaints procedure.
Where we can't help
Some complaints are outside the scope of this procedure:
- where there is a separate review process including a right of appeal to an independent body (for example, if you make a planning application and disagree with the council's decision)
- about the conduct of councillors. See the code of conduct for elected members
- involving allegations of criminal behaviour or financial misconduct
We will tell you if your complaint is outside the scope of our complaints procedure and needs to be handled in another way. Similarly, if your complaint needs to be dealt with by another organisation, we will do our best to put you in touch.
How we deal with unreasonable complainant behaviour
In a minority of cases people pursue their complaints in a way that is unreasonable. This behaviour may include one or two isolated incidents, as well as ‘unreasonably persistent behaviour’ which is usually a build-up of incidents or behaviour over a longer period. This can impede investigating their complaint (or complaints by others) and can have significant resource implications for the council. The following policy covers ‘unreasonable complainant behaviour’.
Get in touch
Should you wish to speak to someone in person, use the details below to get in touch and make an appointment.