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 those acting on our behalf, council policy or attitude/behaviour of council staff, affecting an individual or group of individuals.
 

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.

Before making a complaint, you should make sure you have given us an opportunity to resolve the issue you are raising. You should contact the relevant service first. You can find details all our services on on our website.

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.

If the service 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.

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 complaint

At stage 1, your complaint will be forwarded to the relevant service. The service manager will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving the complaint, logging it at stage 1 within the West Berkshire Council complaints procedure. The Service Manager, or their nominated representative, will then investigate. They will aim to provide a full response to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged, or they will let you know if the reply will take longer and 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 complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the stage 1 response to your complaint, you can request it to be reviewed at stage 2.

Your written request will then be acknowledged and logged at stage 2 of the complaints procedure within 5 working days of the service receiving the escalation request. Within the acknowledgement, the service will tell you their understanding of any outstanding issues and the outcomes you are seeking.

The service will aim to send you a final response to the stage 2 complaint within 20 working days of your request being acknowledged, or they will let you know if the reply will take longer and why.

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