Make a complaint
We aim to deliver the best services we can, but we are only human and mistakes can sometimes happen.
If you are unhappy about the level of service you have received you can make a complaint.
Different types of complaints
We receive different types of complaints which means we need different processes for some of them:
Problems and issues
If you want to report a problem like a road obstruction or missed bin collection, use the links on our report it page instead. This will raise the problem directly with the right team.
Complaint about a councillor
All councillors and co-opted members of local authority committees are required to comply with the members code of conduct.
If you believe someone has broken this code find out how to make a complaint and how we respond on our complain about a councillor page.
Services with their own complaint procedures
To complain about one of the following you can use the links below:
- a school or school curriculum
- adult social care and public health
- children’s social care
- a development in breach of planning rules
If you contact us we will provide the appropriate contact details to complain about the following:
- planning application decisions
- housing eligibility
- the amount of housing benefit granted
- your liability to pay council tax or the amount of council tax you are liable to pay
- employment matters
- parking tickets (penalty charge notices)
How to make an official complaint
If you want to make an official complaint and none of the above applies, you can fill in our online form by using the button below.
Alternatively, you can make a complaint in person, by phone, by letter or you can print out, complete and return our comments and complaints form. Contact information is available in the contact the council panel at the side of the page.
What happens next
You can expect to receive a full response to your official complaint within 10 working days.
We will contact you if we expect the decision to take longer.
If you are not happy with the decision you can ask for it to be investigated further within 20 working days of the date of our response letter.
For more details read our complaints handling procedure.
If you are still unhappy with our response you can complain directly to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Anonymous complaints
Anonymous complaints will be investigated but due to their anonymous nature, it is not possible to follow all stages of the procedure or provide a response.