Complaints and compliments

Submitting a complaint or compliment

We know things don't always go as expected. We won't get everything right and that is why we really value your feedback. If you have a problem or are unhappy with our services, please let us know. Your concerns matter to us. By sharing them, you help us improve our services to better meet our users' needs. We will address your complaint quickly and fairly.

If you have come to this page after a good experience, we’re so glad to hear it! We are not going to get everything right, so your kind words mean a lot to us. They inspire and motivate our team to keep working hard on our website. Your compliment boosts our morale. It also helps us build on what we already know works well.

Submit a complaint or compliment

To submit a complaint or compliment, select the button below.

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What you can complain about

A complaint can be submitted if you are not happy with the quality of work. For example:

  • A service we delivered.
  • Our failure to deliver a service.
  • The standard work provided by us, or one of our contractors.

For details about standards, see our customer service standards page.

What you can not complain about

Our complaints' procedure does not cover:

  • Day to day service requests or reporting faults. For example a faulty street light.
  • Where an appeal procedure already exists to deal with the issue. Such as an appeal about a parking ticket.
  • Complaints about a service from the Adult's or Children's services departments. There are statutory complaints procedures.
  • Where we have no power or duty to provide a service.
  • To complain about a councillor. There is a dedicated channel for this. Please see our local councillors page.
  • Complaints about schools. In this case, please speak directly to the school.
  • If you have had an accident with a council owned vehicle. In this case, see our accident claims page.

If we cannot investigate your complaint, we will let you know. We will guide you accordingly.

Stage one of your complaint submission

If any aspect of one of our services doesn’t meet your expectations, you can complain about it. At that point, one of our staff members will do their best to resolve the issue. If the matter isn't resolved and you want to escalate it, you can submit a complaint online.

We will forward your complaint to the right service for review. If the complaint is about a staff member, it will go to their manager. We will acknowledge your complaint in three days. We aim to provide a reply within 15 working days. (Please wait 20 working days for Adult social services).

If the service is delivered by a third party, we expect that they also follow the above. We always aspire to be open and honest. We admit fault when we are wrong, and we set out to fix things.

Stage two of your complaint submission

If the matter hasn’t been resolved by stage one, you can escalate your complaint. You can request it to be reviewed by a more senior member of staff. In most cases, this will be the service manager or a designated officer. All stage two complaints must be shared with the corporate complaints' manager. We will acknowledge your complaint in three days. We aim to provide a reply within 20 working days.

For details about complaint policies, see:

You compliment submission

You may want to congratulate us or an officer for a job well done. If you do, we’ll respond to your praise within 10 working days. We'll pass your compliments to the relevant staff or service area. We will encourage others to follow their example.