Our complaints procedure
Dealing with your complaint
We will do our best to resolve your complaints about council services. We will:
- Stage 1: We will deal with your complaint within 10 working days.
- Stage 2: We will arrange for a senior officer to do a further investigation within 28 days if things are not resolved.
We will keep you informed if our investigation needs to take longer or if it needs to be handled differently.
Not happy with the way we have responded to your complaint?
If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your complaint you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The ombudsman investigates complaints about council matters if the council in question has exhausted its own complaints procedure.
Visit the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman website to find out more about taking your complaint further.
Procedure for complaints about health and social care services
You can submit complaints about adult social services via Have Your Say but the procedure for dealing with health and social care complaints is different. Visit the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman website to find out more about the health and social care complaints procedure.
Procedure for complaints about councillors
Complaints alleging that councillors have breached their Code of Conduct must be made to the local Standards Committee who will decide whether any action should be taken, and if so, what. Find out more about the councillor complaints procedure.
Procedure for children’s services complaints
The council must have a procedure in place for dealing with complaints from children and young people. This will ensure that their voices are heard, and that services improve as a result. Please see the complaints about children’s services page for more information.
Procedure for complaints about schools
Formal complaints about schools can be made to the governing body. The headteacher will provide you with details on how to make a formal complaint. Find out more about complaints about schools.