Complaints, compliments and suggestions

We aim to give an excellent service to all our customers. If we get things wrong, we want to try to put them right, learn from our mistakes to help improve services for the future.

If you think that Waverley has:

• failed to do something it should have done
• done something that it should not have done
• done something badly or taken too long to do it
• treated you unfairly or rudely
• failed to investigate a complaint about an incident of a racial nature,

then you should complain.

How should I complain or make a comment?

There are three steps in Waverley's complaints procedure.

Level 1

As a first step it is usually best to contact someone in the responsible service who may be able to resolve the problem, if not immediately, then within a very short time.   To find the relevant contact, find it on our A-Z of services.

Level 2

If you are not happy with the result of your first approach to the Council you can:

• fill in the Complaints, compliments and suggestions online form or,
• write or send an email to the Head of Service who manages the service you are complaining about.  See our contact us page to get our address.
  

Please explain why you are unhappy with the first response you received from the Council.

The Head of Service you are complaining about will consider your complaints and will send you a detailed response which, we hope, will sort out the matter.

Level 3

If you are not satisfied with the response from the Head of Service, you can ask to have your complaint reviewed by the Chief Executive. This is the final stage of Waverley's complaints procedure.

How quickly will I receive a response?

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receiving it, and will aim to send you a detailed response within 10 working days. If there is a delay, for example where the matter is complicated, we will send you a progress report and say when we expect to be able to respond.

What do I do if I am still unhappy?

If you remain unhappy after the final stage of Waverley's complaints procedure, you can take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (external link).

For more information, visit the Local Government Ombudsman website or call the Ombudsman's Advice Team on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983, Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.00pm.

Alternatively you can write to the Local Government Ombudsman at:

PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH

Email: advice@lgo.org.uk

Text 'call back' to: 0762 4804299.

Please note that before raising your concerns with the Local Government Ombudsman, you should give Waverley a chance to resolve your complaint.

Page owner: Emma McQuillan. Last updated: 19/03/2013 14:51