Comments, compliments and complaints

We continually strive to provide you with excellent services. To make sure we meet the standards you expect we need your feedback, you can contact us with any general comments by emailing customer.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Comments and compliments

You can report a problem such as a missed bin collection, litter or a change of circumstances affecting Council Tax from our Report page, apply for many of our services from our Apply page, and make a payment for some of our services from our Pay online page.

If you have a specific query, comment or compliment for a service then you can contact the department directly, contact details are available in our A-Z. Our teams are happy to help you in any way we can.

Complaints

To report an issue for example fly-tipping, bin not emptied, noise issue - visit Report

If we have made a mistake or, if you have any concerns, we always encourage you to contact the service department directly. Our teams will always listen to you and try to resolve any grievances quickly and informally. Contact details are in our A-Z available at the top of this page.

West Suffolk Council Corporate Complaints Policy The complaints process should not be used where an appeals process is in place, if you have a complaint about a planning application or car parking fine (Penalty Charge Notice) then visit our planning appeals page and our parking fines appeals page

If your complaint, for whatever reason cannot be resolved informally with the service department, you can begin a formal complaints process by emailing complaints@westsuffolk.gov.uk. There are two steps:

Step one

The importance of this stage cannot be emphasised enough. It applies when a member of the public first makes a request for action as a corporate complaint either directly to the service concerned or via Customer Services. This request can be submitted by email to complaints@westsuffolk.gov.uk.

Complaints will be acknowledged within five working days of receipt. We will make sure that we have understood the issues that are being raised to inform our response.
We will provide a full response to the complaint, within 10 working days of receipt of the Step 1 complaint. The complaint will be investigated by the relevant service. For complex cases we may need more time to fully investigate and respond, usually an additional 10 working days in these cases we will write to you and clearly explain this to you.
The complainant will also be advised that, if they remain dissatisfied, they can request that the complaint can proceed to Step 2.

It should be noted, that in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, West Suffolk will normally only consider complaints which are less than 12 months old, or it is less than 12 months since the detail became known to the complainant.

Step two

If the complainant is not satisfied with the response made by the service at Step 1, he or she should contact the council either directly to the service concerned or through Customer Services. This request can be submitted by email to complaints@westsuffolk.gov.uk

A complaint will not be considered under Step 2 unless the complainant has new information, which is submitted within 6 calendar months of the Step 1 decision being made and that has not previously been investigated under the Step 1 process.

It is important that the complainant sets out why they are unhappy with the Step 1 response, any relevant dates and previous contact (including reference numbers if applicable) they have had with us over the matter concerned.
Complaints will be acknowledged within five working days of its receipt and referred to the council’s legal service to investigate.
The legal service should investigate the matter further and issue a full response to the complainant within 20 working days of receipt of the Step 2 complaint, however this may take longer and, if that is the case, you will be notified.
On some occasions, there may be a need for more time to investigate the complaint, for example the complaint may be very technical and/or need detailed investigation which takes longer than 20 working days. In these cases, the council will advise the applicant of a possible delay.

A request for a review of a Freedom of Information Act (FOI), Data Subject Access (DSAR) Request or Environmental Information Regulations Request will also be managed and reported in line with the Step 2 complaint process.

What happens if I am still not happy?

If your complaint has reached the end of step two and you are still not happy with either the response or the way it was handled, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for help. This is an independent organisation whose role it is to investigate and resolve any complaints about councils, the service is free and impartial. Note: You should go through all stages of the council's complaints process before contacting the Ombudsman.