Compliments, comments and complaints

Housing

• Request a repair
• Report homelessness
• Appeal your Gateway to Homechoice banding
• Report your private sector housing landlord

Bins and recycling

• Report a missed bin collection

Planning

• Appeal a planning decision
• Report an alleged breach of planning control

Council Tax and Housing Benefit

• Report a change in circumstances

Antisocial behaviour and Environmental Protection

• Report antisocial behaviour
• Report antisocial behaviour in Council housing
• Report smoke, smells or another nuisance
• Report fly-tipping
• Report littering

Countryside and Public Realm

• Report a problem with grass cutting, trees or grounds maintenance in Babergh
• Report an issue with grass cutting, trees or grounds maintenance in Mid Suffolk

Freedom of Information

• Make a Freedom of Information request

Highways

• Report a highways issue (including potholes) to Suffolk County Council

Adult Social Care

• Get help with care and support for adults from Suffolk County Council

If you have had a positive experience with us - or feel that we have done something well - we would love to hear from you.

Please use our online form to do this. We will make sure that your feedback is passed on to the relevant team, or member of staff.

Pay us a compliment

If you would like to make a suggestion to us about how we could improve our services - or comment on what we do - we would like to hear from you. Your feedback will be passed on to the relevant team, or member of staff.

Make a comment

Make a complaint if you need to tell us about a problem that you would like us to investigate.

We want to hear from you when something goes wrong, so that we can put it right.

For example:

• you are not happy with how you have been treated
• you feel we have delivered poor service

Make a Stage One complaint

If this is a new complaint, you will need to raise a Stage One complaint about the service you are dissatisfied with:

Make a Stage One complaint

Make a Stage Two complaint

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your Stage One complaint, you can escalate your complaint to Stage Two via the link below.

You will need your reference number, which was provided at Stage One, to escalate your complaint.

When you raise your Stage Two complaint you should state why you were unhappy with the outcome to your Stage One response.

Make a Stage Two complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your Stage Two complaint, you can contact the relevant Ombudsman. The contact details for the Local Government Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman Service can be found further down this webpage (under the 'How we deal with complaints' heading).

If you are unhappy with the conduct of a Councillor, please let us know.

All our district councillors and parish councillors must abide by the Suffolk Local Code of Conduct, which was adopted in 2012.

You can make a complaint about a Councillor if you think that they have not followed the Code of Conduct. You will need to be clear about how you think the councillor has not followed the Code.

The Code of Conduct only applies to a Councillor whilst they are working as a Councillor. It does not apply to a Councillor acting in their personal capacity.

NOTE: The Monitoring Officer cannot deal with complaints about staff, such as town Clerks, parish clerks, or officers.

Please visit our Complain about a Councillor webpage to learn more, and to raise your complaint.

When you make a complaint about our service, we handle it in line with our Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy.

There are two possible stages to your complaint, and how it is handled internally prior to being able to contact either the Housing Ombudsman Service or Local Government Ombudsman to escalate your complaint.

We also have a Unreasonable and Persistent Complainant Policy. This policy details our process for designating an unreasonably persistent complainant, and the processes of appeal.

Stage One

Your complaint will be sent to the Head of Service (or Deputy) Manager of the service that you have complained about.

They will contact you, to acknowledge your complaint, within five working days. From the day you submit your complaint, we have ten working days to provide a full response to you. We may extend this by up to 10 working days, if we need additional time to investigate.

If we do not agree with your complaint, we will provide you with a full explanation.

Stage Two

If you do not agree with the response you receive from us in Stage One, and you are unhappy with it, you can ask that it is reinvestigated as a Stage Two complaint.

You will need to let us know what you think we did not consider, or what you were unhappy with.

At Stage Two, your complaint will be investigated by our Customer Liaison Officer (who is independent from the service you have complained about). They will re-examine all the information, and they will then provide you with an impartial response.

They will contact you within five working days, to acknowledge your complaint. From the day your complaint is submitted, we have 20 working days to provide a response to you.

The Local Government Ombudsman

If you are still not satisfied with the reply you receive, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. They are independent from us - and all local government.

Normally, before they consider your case, they will ask whether there is an opportunity for the complaint to be resolved without their involvement.

You can approach the Local Government Ombudsman at any time, but they will expect that you have already exhausted our complaints procedure.

You can make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman online.

You can also phone 0300 061 0614.

Write to them at:

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

PO Box 4771

Coventry

CV4 0EH

 

You may also wish to contact your local branch of Citizens Advice, who will always assist where they can.

 

Local Government Ombudsman annual reviews

Each year, the Local Government Ombudsman publishes a report about every Council.

You can access the respective reports online:

1. Babergh District Council's annual reviews (access reviews as far back as 2007)
2. Mid Suffolk District Council's annual reviews (access reviews as far back as 2007)

The Housing Ombudsman Service

If you remain dissatisfied with the complaint response you have been provided regarding your property, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman directly. They may be able to investigate the review of your complaint.

You can contact the Ombudsman online.

Email info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Phone 0300 111 3000.

Write to them at:

Housing Ombudsman Service

PO Box 1484

Unit D

Preston

PR2 0ET

Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code

In April 2022, the Housing Ombudsman updated their Complaint Handling Code.

We, as landlords, must now complete a self-assessment on our compliance with their Complaint Handling Code.