We have a 2 stage process for complaints.

Stage 1: initial response

For stage 1, we will:

• acknowledge complaints within 5 working days
• let you know who will be handling your complaint and make sure we understand what your complaint is about
• find out what you want to happen to put things right
• provide a full response within 10 working days - if we need to extend this we will let you know
• apologise if we find we have failed to provide the level of service you should expect and look to put things right
• welcome your view of what needs to be done to resolve any problem

Stage 2: review

If unresolved, complaints can be escalated to stage 2 for a review of the stage 1 process.

Requests to escalate should be received within 20 working days from the stage 1 response.

We will acknowledge the escalation within 5 working days of receiving it and a final response will be sent within 20 working days from acknowledgement, with extensions of 20 working days communicated if necessary.

Our complaint handling policy has more information about how we deal with complaints.

If you are still unhappy

If things are still not right, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) will carry out an independent review.

The LGSCO will not normally accept a complaint which has not been considered under our complaint process first.

Unreasonable actions by customers

Dealing with a customer is usually a straightforward process, but in a small number of cases people interact with services in a way that is unreasonable.

We have adopted the LGSCO's definition of unreasonable actions.

Unreasonable actions are those which, because of the nature or frequency of contact with an organisation, hinder the organisation’s delivery of services or consideration of complaints.

Find out more in our unreasonable actions by customers policy.