Customer feedback
Here is our customer feedback form for complaints, comments and suggestions about St Edmundsbury Borough Council's services. You can complete and submit the form online , email strategy.performance@stedsbc.gov.uk or write to the freepost address below.
Please note: Complaints are fully investigated and responded to within 20 working days.
To improve our services we need to know what you think of them
We hope that we mostly get it right first time - but sometimes we don't. So if you are unhappy with our services, or the way we have treated you, please let us know. The sooner you tell us the sooner we can put things right.
Of course, we'd also love to hear from you if we're doing well or if you have suggestions for improvements.
Why should you complain or comment?
We can learn from complaints and comments so we can improve our services. A complaint lets us know if you think we:
- haven't done something we should have done; or
- have been unfair or treated you badly.
If you want to report something, such as a noisy neighbour, rather than make a complaint about our services please contact the relevant department (if you're not sure, call our general enquiries number 01284 763233).
We will not use our complaints process where there is an appeals procedure within the council to an independent tribunal, or a legal remedy such as a planning appeal or car parking appeal. For more information about the planning appeals process please see the planning appeals and appeal register page. For more information about the car parking appeal process please see the parking services appeal against excess charge notice page.
Many complaints can be solved by talking to the person you've been dealing with, so we suggest you try this first. Our staff try to give the best service, but mistakes can happen and we are keen to sort out any problems.
How the procedure works
If you have tried and cannot solve the problem with the service directly you can use our complaints process. There are two simple steps to the complaints procedure. We aim to deal with most complaints in Step 1, but if you remain unhappy with the first response you should take your complaint to Step 2.
Step 1
If you are dissatisfied with any part of our service or wish to point out a fault, you can make a complaint by:
You will receive an acknowledgement within five working days of receipt of your complaint (or within one working day if you use the online form or email). This will provide the name of the person dealing with the complaint. The response will either explain fully how the situation has been handled or we will let you know that further investigation is necessary and tell you when you can expect a full reply.
Please note: Complaints are fully investigated and responded to within 20 working days.
Step 2
If you are not happy with the response to your complaint please contact us again, by any of the methods outlined above, setting out any relevant dates and previous contact you have had with us. Our legal team will further investigate the complaint.
Local Government Ombudsman
If at the end of our complaints procedure you are unhappy with our response, you can take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent person who investigates allegations of maladministration causing injustice to the person who has complained. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about most council matters including housing, planning, education, social services, and council tax.
Contact details for the Local Government Ombudsman Advice Team are as follows:
Phone: 0845 602 1983 or 024 7682 1960
Address: Local Government Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk
The Local Government Ombudsman has a leaflet called Complained to the council? Still not satisfied. You can get a copy by telephoning or writing to the address above, or you can download it from the Ombudsman's website at www.lgo.org.uk
If you have an enquiry about the Local Government Ombudsman's service you can telephone their Adviceline on 0845 602 1983.
Local Government Ombudsman Annual Review
The annual review provides a summary of the complaints the Local Government Ombudsman has dealt with about St Edmundsbury Borough Counci
We want to improve!
Our customers' satisfaction is very important to us so we will closely look at complaints, comments and suggestions to see if there are any recurring topics. In this way we can make sure we act quickly to keep improving our service.
