Making a complaint
You can submit your corporate feedback about services provided by us -
- by completing our online form (Opens in a new window)
- by telephoning the Council’s Contact Centre on 01482 300 300
- by visiting one of the Council’s Customer Service Centres or Information Points
- by writing to -
FREEPOST RSJC-KKBE-ABXZ
Customer Feedback Team
PO Box 15
HU1 2AB
We will accept complaints made by a third-party representative. This includes Members of Parliament and local Councillors. We may need to obtain a signed authorisation from you to allow them to act on your behalf.
Stages of a complaint
Stage 1
During the first stage we will -
- acknowledge and record your complaint within 5 working days of receipt
- aim to fully investigate the complaint and send a full written response within 10 working days of us sending the acknowledgement letter
- if we need more time, write to you and let you know. We will explain why we need more time and when you can expect our response. Any extension will be for no more than 10 working days without good reason. We will include details for the LGSCO, who you can approach should we exceed the timescales
- if we are unable to complete our investigation within the extended timeframe, contact you to agree a suitable interval for providing updates
- if you contact us with any additional, related complaints or comments, ensure that these are incorporated into the stage one investigation and response if this has not already been issued
Where the stage one response has been issued, the new issues are unrelated to the issues already being investigated or it would unreasonably delay the response, the new issues will be logged as a new complaint. The stage one response letter will tell you what you can do if you remain dissatisfied.
When you have received our full response, if you are happy or if we do not hear from you within 28 days we will close the complaint.
Stage 2
If you are not happy you can ask for your complaint to be escalated to stage 2, where it will be reviewed by a senior manager.
You do not have to give us any reasons to escalate your complaint, however if you can, it will help us to understand why you remain dissatisfied.
If you tell us you are unhappy, we will reopen your complaint and record your dissatisfaction. The next steps are -
- we will acknowledge and record your complaint within 5 working days of receipt.
- we aim to fully investigate the complaint and send a full written response within 20 working days of us sending the acknowledgement letter
- if we need more time, we will write to you and let you know. We will explain why we need more time and when you can expect your response. Any extension will be for no more than 20 working days without good reason. We will include details for the LGSCO, who you can approach should we exceed the timescales
- if we are unable to complete our investigation within the extended timeframe, we will contact you to agree a suitable interval for providing updates
- the stage 2 decision letter will be our final response and will include details of how to escalate your complaint to the LGSCO
All stage one and stage 2 responses will be provided when the answer to the complaint is known, not when any outstanding actions required to address the issue are completed. We will keep you updated with the progress of any outstanding actions.
After the Complaints process has finished
You can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to ask them to review your complaint.
The LGSCO investigates most complaints about the Council.
The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
P O Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 OEH
You can also telephone 0300 061 0614 or visit the LGSCO website.
You can approach the Ombudsman at any time during your complaint for help and advice.