Compliments, Comments and Complaints

Please give us your comments, good or bad, because it helps us plan for the future and improve our services.

What to do

If you have had a good or bad service from the Council then we suggest:

• Talk to the staff or managers involved; it's always helpful to hear good comments and, if you are unhappy with a service, they may be able to put things right for you straight away.
• If you feel you cannot talk to them or you are not satisfied with their response, you can make your comment online. Simply choose the area for your comment from the box on the left.
• If you want to talk to someone directly, please contact our Customer Services Team on 0300 500 80 80
• Alternatively, you can always raise any issues or concerns with your County Councillor.
  

District, Borough and City Council Services

Remember, if you live within the Nottingham city boundary your services are provided by the City Council, so you will need to contact Nottingham City Council to have your say.

If you'd like to say something about a service provided by your District Council, such as housing, waste collection, collection of council tax, leisure and environmental health you should contact your local council.

Complaints

Complaints Process

We will look into your complaint thoroughly and fairly. We will be honest and polite and keep information you give us confidential to the process. We will apologise if we have made a mistake and we will tell you what we are doing to put things right.

Exactly how we deal with your complaint depends on what it relates to. Find out more about how we deal with complaints for our different services:

• General Council services such as roads, libraries, registrars, school admissions or transport.
• Adult social care services including home care provision and residential care homes.
• Children and young people's social care services including adoption, fostering and childcare.
• Councillors including conduct and behaviour.
• Schools including the National Curriculum or the running of a school.
  

Support in Making a Complaint

People who make a complaint may want support to do so.

Support person/representative

You can have someone to support you in making a complaint.  They can be with you in any meetings held to look at your complaint and can speak on your behalf if you wish.

Advocate

If a vulnerable person involved in a complaint needs support to make their views heard, they can have an advocate. An advocate is independent from the department. They help the vulnerable person understand what is happening and can speak for them.

Special Needs

If you need help to take part in the complaints process let us know as soon as possible. For example:

• documents in different formats such as Braille, large print, audio described or translated into different languages
• an interpreter, if English is not your first language
• a loop hearing system
• facilities for a guide dog.
  

General advice and support

Citizens Advice Bureau
32-36 Carrington Street
Nottingham
NG1 7FG
Tel: 0115 938 8050

Visit the Citizens Advice Bureau's website.

The Local Government Ombudsman  

At any stage in the Council's Complaints Procedure you have the right to take your case to the Local Government Ombudsman.  However, the Local Government Ombudsman will usually ask you to allow the County Council the opportunity to resolve things through its formal complaints procedure. For more information contact:

• Local Government Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry CV4 0EH
• Telephone: 0300 061 0614 
• Text: 0762 4804323
• Email: advice@lgo.org.uk

Please note the Local Government Advice Team operates Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm