Most complaints follow our corporate complaints process. This includes issues you have already reported to a service that have not been resolved.
When this process will not be used
We may not use the complaints process if there is another formal route for dealing with the issue, for example:
- a statutory appeal process such as a schools admissions appeal
- if there are legal proceedings contemplated or in progress, such as an appeal against a planning decision
- an insurance claim
- an anonymous complaint, where we cannot investigate without contact details
You should contact the relevant service instead.
After we receive your complaint
We will send you an email to confirm that we have received your submission. The email will include a link to the case portal, where you can track the progress of your case and provide more information if needed.
We will review your submission to check that we have enough information to process it as a complaint. We may email you if we need anything else.
Once we have the information we need, we will:
- formally acknowledge your complaint
- allocate it to an officer to investigate
- let you know when you can expect a response
If you are unhappy with our response
If you are unhappy with our first response to your complaint, tell us as soon as possible that you want your complaint to be reviewed again.
We'll acknowledge this within five working days and we will send it to a senior officer who was not responsible for the Stage 1 response.
We aim to provide a full response to your complaint within 20 working days.
If you are still unhappy after completing our complaints process
You can ask the Ombudsman to consider your complaint.
Contact:
Complaints about adult social care and children's services
Adult social care and children's social care complaints follow separate statutory procedures:
- go to our adult social care complaints policy
- go to our children's social care service complaint procedure
Annual report
Our annual complaint report details:
- the nature of complaints we receive
- our handling performance
- the learnings we have identified