We are listening
Thank you for taking the time to tell us what you think of our service.
Norwich City Council is continually looking to improve the service we offer our customers, so if you've had particularly good or bad service or would like to make a comment, we'd like to hear from you.
How to submit a comment or compliment
If you wish to make a comment or compliment please click here for the online form.
How to submit a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint please click here for the online form.
Alternatively, you can contact us by:
e: listening@norwich.gov.uk
t: 0344 980 3333
minicom: 01603 212587
letter: Norwich City Council, City Hall, Norwich, NR2 1NH
We are listening. Tell us what you think of our service - click here to download our leaflet (634 Kb pdf)
Whichever way you choose to get in touch please make sure you provide your name and contact details, details about your complaint and what you would like us to do to resolve it.
We are committed to ensuring that all services are tailored to meet the needs of everyone, taking into account of age, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle or disability. All complaints are taken seriously and must be recorded and investigated according to our corporate procedure.
Norwich City Council, our partners and agencies working on our behalf, do not tolerate abusive and violent behaviour against our staff.
A member of the public cannot refuse to be dealt with by a member of staff on the grounds of their ethnicity/culture/faith/disability or sexuality.
Complaints policy
If you wish to make a complaint, we strongly recommend you read the following policy:
Complaints process
The two stages of the complaints process are:
Any initial issues raised will be put right, if possible, with the minimum delay.
- Please explain the reasons for your complaint and what you would like us to do.
- If a full response cannot be provided within five working days, an acknowledgement letter will be sent informing the complainant which officer is dealing with their complaint.
- A full response will be provided within 15 working days from the receipt of the complaint.
- If you are not satisfied with the response, then you may take your complaint to stage two.
Stage 2 - corporate leadership team level
If the matter has not been resolved at stage one, further investigations will be carried out.
- However, you must state the reasons why you do not agree with the stage one response. In the absence of any reasons, the decision is unlikely to change.
- If a full response cannot be provided within five working days, an acknowledgement letter will be sent informing the complainant which officer is dealing with their complaint.
- A full response will be provided within 15 working days from the receipt of the complaint. .
- If you are still dissatisfied, you may then refer your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman via a designated person.
Local Government Ombudsman
The Local Government Ombudsman investigates complaints about the way particular cases have been handled You can make your complaint directly to them at any time, but they will usually only take action when the city councils complaints process has been have been completed.
The Local Government Ombudsman advice team can be contacted at:
Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
t: 0845 602 1983 or 0300 061 0614* (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm)
Text the words call back to 0762 480 4299
e: advice@lgo.org.uk
f: 024 7682 0001
website: www.lgo.org.uk
*Calls to 03 numbers will cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01or 02) from both mobiles and landlines, and will be included as part of any inclusive call minutes or discount schemes in the same way as geographic calls.
Housing Ombudsman Service
From 1 April 2013, there will be a change to the way in which council tenants can contact an ombudsman about unresolved complaints with their landlord.
As part of the Localism Act 2011, your complaint can be referred to the ombudsman by a ‘designated person’, this can be any Member of Parliament, any Norwich City Council Councillor or a recognised ‘designated tenant’s panel’. A designated person can help you resolve the issue at a local level and has the power to make a referral to the ombudsman on your behalf.
Leaseholders and private sector housing tenants can continue to go straight to the ombudsman. If you are a NCC tenant and it is more than eight weeks since you received our final response to your complaint, you can also make your own direct referral.
The Housing Ombudsman Team can be contacted at:
Housing Ombudsman Service
81 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4HN
Unreasonably persistent complainants and unreasonable complainant behaviour
Unreasonable complainants are people who, because of the frequency and/or nature of their contacts with us, can impede the consideration of their complaint and can have significant resource implications for the council.
If a complainant is deemed to be unreasonably persistent, then the council will take action in accordance with our Unreasonably persistent, abusive or vexatious contacts and complaints policy and the complainant will be advised accordingly.
Getting help to make a complaint
You may seek support from others to help you make a complaint such as your local councillor, Member of Parliament or advice organisations. Alternatively, you may prefer support from a friend or relative.
Complaining on behalf of others
Norwich City Council will ensure it complies with the Data Protection Act. If a member of the public is complaining on behalf of someone else, all correspondence relating to the complaint will be sent to the named customer. Correspondence can only be sent to a person other than the named customer if clear evidence is provided stating that this should be the case eg a power of attorney.
What we do with your information
Any personal information that you give the council as part of your complaint will only be used by the council to:
- help address and resolve your concerns
- check whether our services and our complaints procedure are equally accessible to every member of the community
- improve our service and complaints procedure.
Data Protection Act 1998
Information you give us about yourself will be held on a computer or manual record, which you have a right to see and check. Information may be shared with organisations we work with to provide services to you. Information may also be used in connection with prevention and detection of fraud.
Complaints about the conduct of members of the council (councillors)
If you think a councillor has broken the authority's code of conduct and you wish to report them,
click here for guidance on the procedure.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The culture of the council is one of openness to the public based on a presumption that information which the council holds should be made available to the public unless such information is covered by a statutory exemption.