Skip to main content

Complaints and feedback

Your feedback is important to us, and we use it to improve our services. 

You may wish to compliment a service, or staff member, suggest a better way of working, or tell us when you think things have gone wrong and you require help to resolve your concerns.

Please read the guidance available for making a complaint or giving feedback below first. We have different guidance depending on the nature of your complaint.

Give feedback online

Provide feedback 

If you are making a request for service such as reporting fly tipping that needs removing or an abandoned vehicle that needs investigating, please use the report it function. We can then respond to requests more efficiently as well as provide you with an enquiry reference number and automatic updates related to your report.

Complaints leaflets and procedures

Complaints about schools

If your complaint relates to the way your child has been treated at school we will not be able to deal with this. We recommend contacting the Headteacher in the first instance.

Visit Schools complaints procedure for more information.

Dealing with your complaint

On receipt, your complaint will be assessed and we will aim to send an acknowledgement letter to you within three working days which will include the following information:

  • How we propose to handle your complaint
  • Who will respond to your complaint
  • A timescale by when you can expect a written response
  • Details of the appropriate complaints procedure
  • Advice on what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response

Not happy with how your complaint has been handled?

If you have been through all stages of our complaints procedure and are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review your complaint.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

The Ombudsman expects you to have given us chance to deal with your complaint, before you contact them. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable time, it may decide to look into your complaint anyway. This is usually up to 12 weeks but can be longer for social care complaints that follow a statutory process.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the final stage for complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. It also investigates complaints about all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) for people who self-fund their care.

Website: www.lgo.org.uk

Telephone: 0300 061 0614

Text 'call back' to: 0762 481 1595

Whistleblowing

We are committed to the highest possible standards of openness, probity and accountability. In line with that commitment we expect employees, and others that we deal with, who have serious concerns about any aspect of the Council’s work to come forward and voice those concerns.

The Council has a Confidential Reporting Policy (PDF) also known as a ‘whistleblowing policy'. This policy sets out how Council employees can raise any serious concerns that they have about any aspect of service provision, the conduct of officers, members of the Council or others acting on our behalf.