Complaints, comments and compliments

There are times when things go wrong, when you might want to make a comment or you would like to pass on feedback for something that well. 

All feedback is important to us because it tells us what you think of our services. We know there is always room to improve and so we want to make every effort to put things right as quickly as possible.

Tell us about a problem for the first time

Before making a complaint we encourage you to give us an opportunity to resolve the issue you are raising. You should contact the relevant team first as they can often resolve the issue quickly. You can find details of our services on our website by checking the contact us page on our website or search for the specific topic you are unhappy about. 

If the team is not able to resolve the issues you can make a complaint. The complaints process looks at how we have delivered services or reached decisions.

Common issues that are not complaints

Some concerns aren't handled as ‘complaints’. They might be requests for service (my bin has been missed, a streetlight is out or if it's your first time telling us about something that has not been carried out), these are usually handled outside of the complaints process because they can be resolved quickly. Others have a different route already available (like appeals. planning decisions, traffic):

Some complaints might need to be handled differently because of legal reasons or they might not be the Council’s responsibility. If you're unsure, just reach out to the Customer Care team for help or check out the list below (it doesn't cover everything).

If the issue remains unresolved, you can make a formal complaint. 

How to make a complaint

Complaints can be made in any format including:

We are committed to making sure the way we work does not put disabled people at a disadvantage and meets our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

If you need any help or support to use our service, let us know and we will consider what changes we can make.

The Corporate Complaints Process

Stage One 

Complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days, this will include a reference number and a due date. The relevant team will investigate your complaint and send you a response within 10 working days. If more time is needed they will let you know why.

Sometimes, we might decide to give our final answer in the stage one response. This won't happen often and only when going to the next stage wouldn't help to resolve the concerns.

Stage Two 

If you are unhappy with the stage one complaint response and would like it to be escalated to stage two, contact the Customer Care team within 25 working days from the date of the response.

Complaints at this stage are acknowledged within 5 working days with a reference number and due date. A senior manager will investigate and respond to you within 20 working days. If we cannot reply within this time, we will let you know why, and when you can expect to get a response

View the Corporate Complaints Policy 2025 for full details.

Complain to the Ombudsman 

They are independent services and can investigate to see if a council has acted unfairly or if you have been caused an injustice. You can contact either Ombudsman service at any time, but you will normally be asked to complete all stages of the complaints process first.

Additional Resources - Policies and Procedures

Make a compliment or comment

Make a comment 

Make a compliment

We value all feedback, your compliment or comment will be passed to the relevant team. 

Privacy Notice 

For information on why we collect personal information, how it is used and shared, how long it is kept, how we protect it and the legal basis for collecting it, see our Privacy Notice 

Last Modified: 01/04/2025 10:20:55

Customer Care team

Address: Guildhall 2
High Street
Kingston
KT1 1EU

Telephone: 0208 547 5000