Complaints policy and process

Stage one

When you make a complaint, we’ll pass your complaint to the relevant service who will investigate this. 

We’ll respond to you within 10 working days. If we need more time to respond we’ll contact you.

When we respond, we’ll tell you:

• what we have found
• explain any changes we make
• apologise if we have got it wrong and try to put this right

If you’re not satisfied with the response you received at stage one you can ask for your complaint to be escalated to stage two of our complaints process.

You’ll need to do this within one calendar month of the date of your stage one response.

 

Stage two

During this stage an investigating officer will review your complaint and, if necessary, carry out an independent review.

You’ll respond to you within 20 working days. If we need more time to respond we’ll contact you.

We’ll make a decision based on:

• what you’re unhappy about with the stage one response
• information you provide that will help us to make a decision
• whether we’ll be able to achieve the result you want

Full details can be found in the complaints policy (PDF 297 KB)

 

Taking your complaint further

If you’re still not satisfied with our response, you can contact an ombudsman who investigates complaints about local councils. These services are independent, impartial and free.

The ombudsman will usually only consider your complaint after you have completed all stages of our complaints process and have given us the opportunity to resolve matters for you.

• If you’re a council tenant with a complaint about housing, visit the Housing Ombudsman Service website
• For complaints about a building safety risk, contact the Building Safety Regulator
• For complaints about other council matters, visit the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman website

 

Complaints about councillors

You should use the form below for complaints which involve a breach of the Code of Conduct for Members who are acting in their official capacity as Members.

• Members code of conduct complaint form (PDF 726KB)
• Guidance notes for Members code of conduct complaint form (PDF 577KB)

If you want to make a complaint about a MP, you should contact the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

 

Complaints data

Each year we undertake a self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling code.

View the most recent Complaint Handling Code self-assessment.

You can read details regarding the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code on the Housing Ombudsman Service website.