Complaints

A complaint is an expression of a dissatisfaction about the standard of service and/or its delivery, lack of action by the council, its staff or agents, council policy or attitude/behaviour of council staff.
 

We aim to provide services we're proud of to around 165,000 residents and millions of visitors. However, we do understand that things can sometimes go wrong, and if they do, we like to know so that we can put them right and learn from them.

Most concerns that are raised with the council can be resolved without the need to make a formal complaint. These include service requests such as missed bins and potholes, which should be raised directly with the service. You can easily report a number of issues online on our 'report a problem' pages. This is often the quickest way to have your issue resolved.
 

However, if your complaint is about our standard of service, lack of action, the attitude or behaviour of staff or agents, or about council policy, you may wish to make a formal complaint. We have a two-stage process, which we have explained below.

There is a different complaints process for Adult Social Care complaints. All complaints related to social care for adults should be emailed to complaintsadultsocialcare@westberks.gov.uk.

There is also a different process for Children and Family Service complaints. All complaints related to social care for children should be emailed to complaintschildrenssocialcare@westberks.gov.uk.

Stage one

A complaint at stage 1 will be passed to an appropriate officer in the service the complaint relates to for a response. 
The council will aim to reply within 15 working days from the date your complaint has been acknowledged by the relevant service team, or to let you know within this time if the reply will take longer and the reason why. 

You can make a complaint online using the 'make a complaint' button below.

Alternatively, if you are unable to use the online form you can make a complaint by letter or email (corporate complaints only): complaints@westberks.gov.uk.

Stage two

If you're not satisfied with the outcome you received at stage 1, you may have the right to ask for a review of your complaint at stage 2.

If you wish to do this, you should let us know what you feel has not been answered in your stage 1 response.

If we progress your complaint at stage 2, a different officer will review the complaint and reply within 25 working days or advise you if the reply will take longer.  

This is the final stage of the council's corporate complaints process.

If you are still unhappy with the reply you receive, you may write to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) and ask for an investigation.

The LGO is an independent and impartial body. There is no charge for this service.

Complaints against Councillors

If you have a complaint against a Councillor, or about how a council meeting was conducted, this should be directed to our Standards Committee for consideration.

You can find more information on applying to the Standards Committee on our Conduct of Elected Councillors complaints page.

If you still wish to make a formal stage 1 complaint, click the button below.

Make a complaint