How to complain

General complaints

This page sets out our process for general complaints.

To begin this process, read how to make a complaint.

In the descriptions below, 'working days' are Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.

Stage 1

Once received, your complaint it will be reviewed and acknowledged within 5 working days.

Then, within 10 working days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by a member of staff from the service you complained about. Our complaints team will track your complaint.

If you are not happy with the response, you may ask that it be escalated to stage 2. You must ask for this no later than 28 calendar days from our initial reply.

Stage 2

When you ask for your complaint to be escalated you must explain why. The response at stage 1 will tell you how to do this.

Once received, your escalation request will be reviewed and acknowledged within 5 working days.

Then, within 20 working days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by an officer of our Complaints team.

After stage 2

If you are still not satisfied after your complaint has been through all stages of our complaints procedure, you can refer it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.