Comments, compliments and complaints from customers can help us to improve our services. Customers' suggestions and ideas can make a big difference to the way we do things. Comments, compliments and complaints can help to
improve the quality of council services
increase customer satisfaction
prevent problems from getting worse
bring the council closer to its customers by taking their views on board
If you are familiar with our comments, compliments and complaints process please use the proceed button below which will take you straight to our online form. For more detail on our processes and policies please refer to the information given below.
If you wish to report a road defect or lighting fault please use the Road and lighting fault reporting form, available under online forms on the home page.
Comments, compliments and complaints procedure
Comments
The council welcomes the views and comments of customers on any aspect of service delivery.
Customers can comment
in person at any council office
by phoning any council office
by email
by filling in the online form
in writing
by using the freepost card or sending a letter putting the freepost address on the envelope, so a stamp is not required
Officers in all services should offer to help customers write down their comment. All comments should be acknowledge within two working days with a full response sent within 10 working days.
Compliments
Customers are encouraged to tell us when they have received excellent customer service from any employee(s) of the council, or if they believe that someone has carried out their duties in an exceptional manner.
Customers can nominate
in person at any council office
by phoning any council office
by email
by filling in the online form
in writing
by using the freepost card or sending a letter putting the freepost address on the envelope, so a stamp is not required
Officers in all services should offer to help customers write down their compliment.
Complaints
The council takes complaints about our services seriously and deals with them in confidence. Resources use the information from customer complaints to try to improve their services to prevent the same problems happening again. Customers can complain:
We use the information from your complaints to try to improve our services and prevent the same problems happening again. You can complain:
in person at any council office
by phoning any council office
by email
by filling in the online form
in writing
by using the freepost card or sending a letter putting the freepost address on the envelope, so a stamp is not required
Officers in all services should offer to help customers write down their complaint.
Customers can, of course, also make a complaint through their local Councillor or their Member of Parliament or their MSP. (See your local newspaper for the times of your Councillor's surgeries). All complaints must be responded to within the timescales below.
Complaint stages and timescales
Stage 1
We will try to sort out your complaint straight away, but if we can't we will contact you within 5 working days to let you know what is being done.
Stage 2
If the customer is not happy with the outcome of their complaint or the way we are dealing with it, they are encouraged to let us know. The complaint will be passed to a manager who will try and sort out the situation and let the customer know what is happening within five working days.
Stage 3
If the customer still feels they have a complaint, the Executive Director of the service involved and the Chief Executive of the Council will then look into the matter and contact the customer with a reply within 10 working days.
Stage 4
At the end of this process, if you feel you have been treated unfairly by the council, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to investigate. The ombudsman can be contacted at:
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman,
4 Melville Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 7NS Phone 0800 377 7330 Fax 0800 377 7331 Writing SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh, EH3 0BR Emailask@spso.org.uk Weblinkwww.spso.org.uk
They are open from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm apart from Tuesdays when they are open from 10am to 5pm.
Equal opportunities
We are committed to equal opportunities and tackling all forms of discrimination. If you believe you have been treated less favourably for any reason, please let us know.