South Lanarkshire Council and you

This page is for anyone who uses South Lanarkshire Council services. It explains the standard of service you can expect from us, what we ask from you, and how to make a complaint or give feedback.

What you can expect from us

• we will provide a quality service delivered by friendly employees.
• if you call a direct number, we aim to answer within 5 rings.
• if you call our Contact Centre, you will be connected to the next available team member as quickly as possible.
• when we answer your call, we will tell you the name of the service and the person you are speaking to.
• we aim to respond to telephone messages by the end of the next working day.
• we will have staff at reception points and make initial contact with you within 10 minutes of your arrival. We will also tell you about any waiting times.
• our employees will wear photographic identification, which you can ask to see.
• we will reply in clear, straightforward language within 10 working days. If we need more time, we will keep you updated.
• Freedom of Information requests and Data Protection matters have different legal timescales.

What we ask from you

• please keep your appointments or let us know if you are going to be late or need to cancel.
• if one of our employees is visiting you at home, please be available at the agreed time.
• if anything is unclear, ask us. We will explain it, and you can ask us to explain it to a friend, relative or someone supporting you.
• please tell us if your contact details or circumstances change.
• let us know the best way to contact you, such as by phone, letter or email.
• please treat our employees with courtesy and respect. Abuse will not be tolerated and may be recorded or reported to the police.

Making a complaint

The easiest way to complain is by using our online form. You can also contact the service you have been dealing with, write to South Lanarkshire Council, Customer Services Centre, PO Box 3591, Glasgow G73 9ED, or call 0303 123 1015. If you need to complain in person, please phone first to arrange an appointment.

We have a two-stage complaints process. At Stage 1, we aim to resolve complaints within 5 working days. If you are unhappy with the response, you can ask us to look at it again. At Stage 2, we will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to respond within 20 working days. If you are still dissatisfied after our final decision, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to review your complaint. We will explain how to do this when we send our final response.

Standards, feedback and information

We monitor our performance against customer service standards and council standards, and we report this through our committee process. We also welcome feedback from customers, employees and partners to help improve our services.

We will be open and transparent in how we share information and make decisions. You can find published information through our Freedom of Information publication scheme. For Freedom of Information enquiries, email foi@southlanarkshire.gov.uk. For data protection requests, email dp@southlanarkshire.gov.uk. You can also write to the Information Compliance Manager, Corporate Resources, South Lanarkshire Council, Almada Street, Hamilton ML3 0AA.

Our online forms list provides more information on how to contact our services. If you need this information in a different format or language, please contact us on 0303 123 1015 or email equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk.