The Council's complaints procedure
This page summaries our Complaint Handling policy and procedure for responding to complaints.
Complaints can be submitted on our Make a comment, complaint or compliment about Bradford Council page, which also contains information on complaints and the code of conduct for our Members (Councillors).
If you have a problem with a Council Service, contact the department or local office first so that the problem can be dealt with quickly by the department concerned.
Informal Resolution and Service Requests
We aim to resolve issues as early as possible. If you have a problem with a council service, in the first instance you should contact the service or manager of the service you have been dealing with so that the problem can be dealt with quickly by the department concerned.
You can report issues such as bins not being emptied, bins being damaged, fly tipping, street light not working, street cleaning using the contact us now page.
Where your complaint is identified as a service request, this will be sent to the service to take action to put things right.
The Council will decide the most appropriate route to address your concern
Formal Resolution - Stage 1
Stage one complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days and sent to the manager of the service responsible.
You should receive a response within 10 working days. However, where the complaint is complex or needs further investigation this timescale maybe extended. In such cases we will aim to provide a response within a further 10 working days.
Formal Resolution - Stage 2
If you are not happy with the stage 1 response you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed independently by the Council’s Corporate Complaints Team. Your complaint will be reviewed and where necessary, a further investigation will take place.
Following the acknowledgement of your escalated complaint, we will aim to provide a response to stage two complaints within 20 working days. Where this is not possible you will be provided with an update.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If you are still dissatisfied with the service provided by the Council, then you can take up your complaint with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Please note that the Ombudsman will expect you to have tried to resolve the issue with the Council first.
The contact details for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman are:
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Telephone: 0300 061 0614
Website: www.lgo.org.uk
Deciding whether to accept your complaint
The Council’s complaints process is intended to consider concerns about how a service has been delivered, handled or communicated to you. It does not replace or override other statutory, regulatory or legal process. The issues you are raising may be refused as a complaint where:
- The issue occurred over 12 months ago
- You have not been personally affected
- Your issue is appropriate to be dealt with as a service request rather than a complaint
- Your complaint has already been considered and no new or further information is provided
- Where another statutory or formal route applies
For full details of the scope and limitations when accepting complaints, please refer to section 9.1.1 of the Complaint Handling policy and procedure.
Please remember that raising a complaint does not automatically put the matter on hold.