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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

Contact Details

 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:

• Talking to a Contact Officer on 01202 451451
• Writing to the Business Unit
• Filling out a Your Voice form
• Sending us an email at enquiries@bournemouth.gov.uk
• Completing our online form

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
From time to time things may go wrong.  When this happens we want to put it right quickly and take action to prevent it happening again. 

What is a complaint?
A complaint brings to our attention a possible failure in one of our services.  That is if we do something in the wrong way, fail to do something we should do or do something we should not. Examples could include:

• Neglect or delay;
• Failure to tell people about their rights;
• Providing misleading information;
• Inefficient or poor professional conduct.

If we cannot deal with the matter there and then our aim is to:

• Send out an acknowledgement to your complaint within two working days of receiving it
• Give you a full reply within ten working days (if we can deal with the complaint) or
• Keep you fully informed of the progress of the complaint every ten working days (if it takes longer to deal with your complaint.)

If you are unhappy with our findings you can contact the Head of the Business Unit, who will review the evidence and report back with the result of their investigation. The contact details for the Head of Business Unit will be provided in our response letter. 

If, after this stage, you are still not satisified with the Council's response, you can refer the matter to an Independent Director for review.  The Directors contact details will be provided in the response letter from the Head of Business Unit.

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.  You can get more details and advice from the relevant Business Units.

A complaint about an Elected Member in respect of an alleged breach of the Council's Code of Conduct should be sent to The Standards Board for England.

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 (Lo-call): 0845 602 1983 or visit the the Local Government Obudsman 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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Contact Details

To ensure we refer you to the right Business Unit please: 

When phoning 01202 451451 state the name of the Business Unit you wish to talk to.
When writing a letter please send to: