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
If you do have any complaints we would 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.
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
Your complaint will be investigated by an assistant director or manager for the service area the complaint is about. All complaints are acknowledged upon receipt and you will receive a full response within 20 working days. If you consider the complaint has not been dealt with to your satisfaction your complaint can progress to Step two.
To progress a complaint to Step two it is important that the complainant sets out why they are unhappy with the step one response, any relevant dates and previous contact with the council over the matter concerned. The request for a step two complaint review can be submitted by email to complaints@westsuffolk.gov.uk.
Step two
If you are not satisfied with the response made by the service at Step one, you can contact the council by email either directly to the service concerned or through Customer Services.
Please note that a complaint will not be considered under Step two unless you have new information that has not previously been investigated under the Step one process.
It is important that you set out why you are unhappy with the Step one response, any relevant dates and previous contact (including reference numbers if applicable) you have had with us over the matter concerned.
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.