We try to give you the services you need, when and how you need them. Although we always aim to provide high-quality services, occasionally we may fall short of the high standards you expect from us.  If things go wrong, we need to know so that we can put them right and learn from them.

Who can complain?

Anyone who wants, or is receiving, a service from us can make a complaint.

What can I complain about?

Please tell us if you:

• feel we have treated you unfairly or discriminated against you;
• feel that our staff have been rude or impolite;
• are not satisfied with the quality of a service; or
• feel we have not delivered a service in the time we promised.

We have special procedures for dealing with some complaints, for example, complaints about Social Services or the Education Service. When you make a complaint, we will tell you if we need to deal with it under a special procedure.

What happens if I make a complaint?

Our complaints procedure has two steps.

Step 1

We want to give you good customer service at all times. The first person you should contact if you want to make a complaint is the manager of the service you are unhappy with. The Customer Contact Centre will tell you who this is if you don’t already know. That person will try to sort things out honestly, politely and as quickly as possible. If you complain in writing, you will receive a full and clear reply within 10 working days.

We will apologise if we have made a mistake. We will tell you what we are doing to put things right.

Step 2

If you are not satisfied with the response you get at step 1, you should tell us why. You can do this by

• filling in the on-line form on our website
• send a letter
• e-mail
• fax

to the head of the service you are complaining about. The Customer Contact Centre will tell you who this is.

The head of the service will consider your complaint and will appoint a senior manager to investigate it. The investigating manager will not have been involved in your complaint before. The head of the service will write to tell you the outcome of the investigation within 20 working days of the date the investigation started.

We will keep you informed if the investigation will take longer or if we need to handle it in a different way.

We will send you a full and clear reply. We will apologise if we have made a mistake. We will tell you what we are doing to put things right.

What if I am still not satisfied?

We aim to settle as many complaints as possible through our complaints procedure. But if you feel you need to take your complaint further, you can ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate your complaint. The Ombudsman is an independent person who investigates complaints about local councils. His service is free. You can write to the Ombudsman at: