How to complain
When you complain, we will need you to tell us:
- what your complaint is about
- how it has affected you
- why you are not happy with any response you have received before
We will let you know that we have received your complaint and when you can expect an answer.
We will investigate your complaint. To help us we may need to ask you for more information.
We will tell you our decision. If something has gone wrong we will tell you what we will do to put things right.
Making a complaint
Can I complain?
Anybody can complain to us about:
- services we provide
- services others provide on our behalf
- services you think we should provide
There is no charge for our complaint service.
Someone else, such as a friend, relative, or advice agency may make the complaint for you.
They must have your agreement or a right to act on your behalf. This should normally be in writing.
We will need to be sure you have agreed to this, and that the person is acting in your best interest.
Councillors or MPs can help you complain. You do not usually need a professional to bring a complaint to us.
If you employ a professional person, such as a solicitor or surveyor, to help you with your complaint, we are very unlikely to pay towards the cost.
If you do not give us your contact details, we will only investigate your complaint where it raises serious concerns, and it is possible to do so.
If you need help using our service
We will do our best to make our complaint processes easy to use.
However, we must use public money carefully. So, what we can offer will depend on our resources (such as staff time and money).
You may be able to change the display of our website to meet your needs. See our accessibility statement for more information.
Most complaints are made by email or online form, but we also accept complaints by post, in person, or over the telephone.
If you ask us to adjust our service for you, we will decide whether it is reasonable. We will look at:
- the effect if we did not change the service
- if the change would improve things
- if it is practical to make the change
- If the change would disrupt our service unreasonably
- the cost and resources involved
If we decide we will not make an adjustment, we will tell you why.
What should I do first?
Before you make a complaint, you should first give us a chance to sort out your problem.
If you are asking for the first time for something to be done, for example:
- for a faulty streetlight to be fixed, or
- a left behind refuse sack to be collected
it will be treated as a request for a service and not a complaint.
When needed, we will decide the point at which repeat requests for the same service become a complaint.
You can complain about a service provided directly by the Council, or about services someone else provides for the Council.
Where the service is provided by someone else, we would usually ask you to use their complaints process first. If you are still unhappy after that, you can use the Council’s process.
We will start your complaint at the stage of our process which best fits with what you have done to complain before coming to us.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has given helpful top tips on complaining.