We aim to deliver the best service possible to the people who live in or visit Bournemouth. Please tell us about our successes, failures or any suggestions for improvement.
Use our online form
Any Comments?
Complaints
Equality and Diversity Statement
Any comments?
We encourage feedback from everyone who uses our services. This includes positive suggestions and compliments and helps us identify improvements to provide more efficient and better services to our customers.
- Recognising good service and letting us know will help us to see what we are doing well
- If you feel a service could be improved by making some adjustments then contact us with your idea
- If you are unhappy with a service that we have provided we will aim to put right any problem you may have.
All communication with our customers helps us see how we are performing in your eyes, and in our to Build a Better Bournemouth.
You can contact us with your views by:
If you would prefer to see an Officer in person then you can request an appointment through any of the above methods.
Copies of this leaflet are available in large print, Braille or on tape. Translations can also be obtained by contacting us through any of the above methods.
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Complaints
All complaints will be investigated. If you are unhappy with our services, we will look carefully at the issues you have raised. We will respond to you in writing by two working days of receiving your complaint.
We believe that the people who can best deal with a complaint are those that provide the service. The relevant Service Unit will investigate your complaint and try to resolve the complaint as soon as possible. Sometimes it may take longer but we will respond to your complaint within 10 working days of you contacting us.
If you are unhappy with the explanation you receive about your complaint, you can forward it onto the Service Director of the Service Unit concerned (advice on how to this will be supplied with your response), who will investigate your complaint and get back to you within 10 working days.
If you are still dissatisfied with the response from the Service Director, you can request that an independent Executive Director reviews your complaint (again, advice on how to this will be supplied with your response). The Director will arrange for a review of the case and will send you a report of the investigation within 10 working days.
Generally dealing with a complaint is straightforward, but in a small number of cases people pursue their complaints in a way which can either
- Impede the investigation of the complaint
- Cause a significant impact on Council resources.
This can happen either whilst the complaint is being investigated, or once the complaint has progressed through the Complaints process.
In all cases where it is felt someone is being unreasonably persistent in complaining, or consider a person’s behaviour unacceptable there is a separate policy that we refer to, called the unreasonably persistent and vexatious complaints policy
There are also legal complaints procedures that cover certain decisions involving Social Services and Education. If these apply to your complaint, we will follow them.
Complaints about an Elected Member, in respect of an alleged breach of the Council's Code of Conduct, are handled by the Standards Committee. Details on how to make a complaint can be found here.
The Local Government Ombudsman investigates complaints of 'maladministration' against Councils - this means something that the Council has done wrong or failed to do that directly affected the complainant.
In most cases, before the Ombudsman can investigate a complaint, the Council must have had a chance to answer it through their own complaints system.
For further information pick up a leaflet from Bournemouth Borough Council Reception Points or Libraries, call the Ombudsman Adviceline: 0300 061 0614 or visit the the Local Government Ombudsman website.
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Equality and Diversity Statement
Bournemouth Borough Council believes that all persons should be treated with fairness and respect and will demonstrate its commitment to this principle in a proactive and dynamic manner.
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