The Council provides over 170 separate services and employs about
1,000 people. Each day we must make hundreds, possibly thousands,
of decisions and there are many things for us to keep an eye on and
to do.
We try hard to give the best service we can.
We believe our customers are at the heart of
everything we do and our Customer Service Standards reflect our
wish to provide an efficient and courteous service. If you are not
happy with the level of service you have received we want you to
tell us so that we can, where possible, sort out the problem.
Alternatively if you wish to tell us when something is working well
we can share this good practice with other services.
We take all complaints seriously and will investigate each one and
keep you informed of the outcome, although there will be times when
we cannot change a decision (for example, for legal reasons).
What is a complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction by one or more
members of the public about the Council’s action or lack of action,
or about the standard of a service, whether the action was taken or
the service provided by the Council itself or a person or body
acting on behalf of the Council.
Reasons could include:
- We took too long to do our job or provide a service
- We did not do what we said we would
- You think we have not followed the correct procedures
- We gave you the wrong information
- We treated you unfairly
Compliments and Comments
Your views are important to us and we value feedback and
suggestions on how we can improve our services. If you are
satisfied with a service or with a particular member of staff let
us know. We will make sure your compliment is passed on to the
right person.
If you have a Complaint
Stage One:
First, please contact the service section concerned. They will
either put matters right or explain the Council's position.
Stage Two:
Second, if you have received a response to your
complaint from the service section dealing with it and you are
still dissatisfied, we will ask either the Principal Service
Manager or the Portfolio Manager responsible for the service team
(as appropriate) to investigate your complaint.
Stage Three
If you are still dissatisfied, the appropriate Corporate Director
(or, if appropriate, the Chief Executive) will be asked to
investigate the matter.
We understand that your complaint may make you feel angry with the
Council, but please try to be polite and factual when telling us
about your complaint.
If you make a Complaint:
You will hear from us within five working days
saying that we have received your complaint form and telling you
the name of the person dealing with it. We will also tell you how
long we think it will take to give you a full explanation. We aim
to sort out all complaints within 20 working days. Sometimes it may
take longer, but if this happens we will contact you every 10 days
to let you know what is happening.
We will look at your complaint thoroughly, fairly, honestly and
politely.
We will apologise to you if we consider that we have made a
mistake. We will tell what we will do to put right anything that
has gone wrong.
If, after the second or third stage, you are still
unhappy you can take your complaint to the Local
Government Ombudsman (contact details below). You must normally
take your complaint to the LGO within 12 months of you becoming
aware of the problem.
Complaints about elected members
Complaints about the conduct of Councillors will not be dealt with
through this system. Such complaints should be made to the
Council’s Monitoring Officer, who will then consider whether it is
appropriate to refer the matter to the Council’s Standards
Committee or refer it to the Standards Board for England.
How to go about it
If you want to comment, give us a compliment or
complain you can use our online form (opens new window) or telephone
giving the information asked for on the form. A written copy of
the form is also available.
COUNCIL
OFFICES
Marina Customer Service Centre
Marina, Lowestoft, NR32 1HH (Next to Marina
Theatre)
Tel: 01502 562111
Email:
info@waveney.gov.uk
LOCAL OFFICES
Beccles
6 Market Street, Beccles, NR34
9QD
Tel: 01502 713113
Bungay
Broad Street, Bungay, NR35 1EE
Tel: 01986 892176
Halesworth
London Road, Halesworth, IP19 8LW
Tel: 01986 873162
Southwold
Southwold Tourist Information Centre, Southwold, IP18 6DS
Tel: 01502 724729
Local Government Ombudsman
10th Floor,
Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Tel: 020 7217 4620
Fax: 020 7217 4621
Email:
enquiries.london@lgo.org.uk
Website:
www.lgo.org.uk