Information icon

The complaints process

The council operates a two-stage complaints procedure.

Stage one

When you make a formal complaint, your complaint will be passed to the relevant department, who will investigate and respond within ten working days.

If on receipt of a reply, you find a part of your complaint has not been answered or you need further clarification you should contact the author within two weeks for an update.

If having received a Stage One response and/or a follow-on update, you remain dissatisfied you can ask that within one month the Corporate Customer Service Team at Stage 2 (Chief Executive) of the complaints process look at your concerns. 

Chief Executive’s stage

The Corporate Customer Service team will consider your complaint and, if necessary, carry out an independent investigation on behalf of the Chief Executive. You can expect to receive their response within 20 working days.

Please note, these investigations are carried out at the discretion of the Principal Complaints Officer who will make a decision based on:

  • What you are unhappy about with the stage one response
  • Information that you provide that will help us to make a decision
  • Whether we will be able to achieve the result you want
  • If it would be better to ask the service area to look at your concerns again

Full details of the Corporate Complaints Policy can be found in the 'Useful documents' section at the bottom of this page.

Not all complaints follow the Corporate Complaints process

Was this information helpful?



  1. Data protection: We will handle your personal information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and in accordance with the council’s Fair Processing Notice.