Complaints, compliments and feedback

Report a problem

You can get many issues fixed quickly by reporting the problem.

You can also report a problem using the myRBKC account.

Challenge a decision

You can challenge or appeal some decisions without making a complaint.

Contact the office or service

It’s often quicker to fix an issue without a formal complaint.

We recommend contacting the relevant office or service.

You can do this in person, phone or email.

Call, email or visit us

Make a formal complaint

If you're not satisfied with one of our services, you can make a formal complaint:

email: [email protected]
phone: 020 7361 2060 (from Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm)

You can also make a complaint online.

Complaints received after 3pm are acknowledged the next working day.

We recommend giving your phone number so we can contact you if we need to clarify anything.

We will still send our response by email or letter.

If your complaint is about housing, you can provide an address to help us find your records.

For more information about how we investigate and resolve complaints, read our Corporate Complaints and Compensation Policy.

Give us feedback

We welcome feedback on how we can improve our services.

You can do this by using our feedback form.

Send a compliment

If someone has provided excellent service, let us know by using our compliment form.

We'll pass it on to the team or person involved.

Corporate complaints process

We follow a two-stage complaints process.

If your complaint involves more than one council service or is complex, it may take us longer to respond.

We'll keep you updated if there are any delays.

Stage one

Your complaint will be looked into by the person best placed to respond. This would usually be a team leader or manager.

If your complaint is about an officer’s conduct, their line manager will investigate.

If you're not happy with the Stage one response, let us know within 20 working days.

If you need more time, just tell us.

Stage two

A senior manager will review your complaint and respond.

They will look at why you disagree with the Stage one response and consider any new information you provide.

If your complaint related to statutory Adults and Children’s Social Care, it may need to follow a different process.

We'll let you kinow if your complaint would be better dealt with under the statutory procedure.

You can find more information here:

If you're not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint

You can refer your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman if your complaint relates to housing management, estate services or a repair.

The Ombudsman is a free, independent service. Their role is to investigate individual complaints in a fair and an impartial way.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH

Phone: 0300 061 0614

Ombudsman website

Housing Ombudsman Service

PO Box 152
Liverpool
L33 7WQ

Phone: 0300 111 3000

Housing Obundsman website

Complaints not managed through the complaints process

Some issues cannot be handled through the corporate complaints process.

If you contact us us about something we cannot consider, we'll let you know as soon as possible and explain what happens next.

Some examples of complaints we cannot consider are:

issues with a statutory right of appeal such as:
- appealing an unsuccessful homeless application decision
- a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN)
complaints about a council policy decision
complaints where legal proceedings, court or tribunal action is due or already happening (although we may consider related issues that are not in legal proceedings)
issues that are better dealt with by another organisation or regulatory body
complaints about Data Protection or Freedom of Information requests (but we may investigate related issues about the quality of service)
employee complaints about job terms and conditions, working conditions or personnel issues (these follow a separate employee complaint procedure)
matters which are subject to an insurance claim
anonymous complaints (although we may still investigate if possible)
complaints raised more than 12 months after the event, unless there is good reason
reasonableness of service charges for leaseholders

How we handle different types of complaints

There are separate processes for complaints about:

housing management
social services
schools
parking matters
planning applications
housing or Council Tax benefits

If you’re unhappy with a decision about these services, the decision letter will explain how to make a complaint.

Children’s Services complaints policy

How to tell us about your concerns

If you feel that our staff or the services we provide have fallen below the standard you would expect and attempts to resolve the problem with the service provider yourself have failed, you may wish to escalate your concerns by filing an official complaint. It’s important for us to hear from you if things aren’t going well. We want you to tell us why you feel that things have gone wrong and how you would like us to put things right.

If we are not able to help you the way you would like us to, we will let you know and provide you with our reasons so that you might better understand how we reached our decision. Your feedback is important to us because it tells us where we could do things differently and helps us continually improve our services and the way we work with you. Find more information about the Council’s complaints procedure.

Who can complain?

Anyone can make a complaint about our staff or the service we provide. If you would like someone to help you make your complaint, such as a relative, friend or an advocate, do let us know. We treat complaints confidentially, so we will not share sensitive information with others unless we have your consent to do so.

If you are a young person or a Looked After Child, and you would like to be supported by our independent advocacy team, email [email protected]

Are all complaints the same?

Some complaints we receive are better responded to under the Children’s Statutory complaints procedure. We will let you know if we think this might apply and you can find out more here:

Further information: Children's Statutory complaints procedure.

The three stages your complaint will go through and the process surrounding the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman:

Stage 1 Complaints: Local resolution

Following receipt of your complaint, we will contact you within three working days. If we feel we need to clarify your concerns, we will get in touch with you using the contact details you’ve provided. This is important as we want to make sure we understand why you are unhappy and what you think needs to happen to put things right. You should then receive a response within 10 working days. Sometimes, we will need more time to respond to you, so this might take up to 10 more working days. We will let you know if we need this extra time.

If you remain unhappy, we will offer you a meeting with a manager or head of service to discuss the response. This is usually a positive way to work with you to resolve any differences or disagreement. Mediation or resolution meetings will be considered at this stage and all stages of the complaints process.

Stage 2 Complaints: Formal Investigation

If you are unhappy with the Stage 1 response, you can write to the Children’s Customer Relationship Manager explaining why you feel this way and the reasons you believe the response has not answered your complaint.

You should do this within 20 working days and if there is mutual agreement, the Customer Relationship Manager will accept your complaint at Stage 2.

During a Statutory Stage 2 complaint, an Investigating Officer (IO) is appointed to carry out an independent investigation into your concerns and an Independent Person (IP) is appointed to oversee that this investigation is fair. During the process of accepting and investigating a Stage 2 complaint, the IO and IP will meet with you to discuss your complaint and desired outcomes. This will inform a Statement of Complaint which will be sent to you to review and confirm.

Once you confirm the areas of complaint that need to be investigated, the investigation will commence. The investigation often includes the IO and IP reviewing records and meeting with staff who are relevant to their investigation. The aim is to investigate your complaint within 25 working days, but due to the complex nature of some Children’s Services social care complaints, this time may be extended up to 65 working days.

When the investigation is concluded, the IO and IP will write individual reports and send these to the Customer Relationship Manager. The Director of Family Services will then review the findings, outcomes and any recommendations and write you an adjudication letter which sets out their response to you.

Stage 3 Complaints: Review Panel and Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)

If you are unhappy with the Stage 2 response, you can write to the Children’s Customer Relationship Manager and ask for your complaint to be considered by a Review Panel. You should do this within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 2 response and let us know why you feel there have been shortfalls in the investigation.

If there is agreement, the Customer Relationship Manager will arrange for the complaint to be reviewed. The Review Panel will try to convene within 30 working days of your request and will be made up of three independent panel members, one of these members will chair the meeting. You can also ask your advocate, relative or a friend to speak on your behalf.

The Review Panel will send their recommendations to you and the Executive Director of Children’s Services within five working days of the meeting. The Executive Director should send you a letter with their final decision within 15 working days of receiving the Review Panel's recommendations. This concludes the Council’s internal statutory children’s social care complaints procedure.

Complaints we may not be able to consider

We will always try to help where we can, but there are some concerns we can’t consider. If we cannot help, we will try to let you know who you might be able to contact.

Some of the issues we won’t be able to investigate are:

concerns that are being considered or have already been concluded in court or in tribunal proceedings complaints about the day to day running of a school where there is an alternative appeals process, such as for school admissions if the issue you wish to log a complaint about is more than 12 months old

How to contact us

If you would like more information or want to make a complaint, compliment or give and feedback you can get in touch with us by:

our online form
phone: 020 7745 6501

Housing Management complaints process

The Housing Management Complaints Policy explains how to make a complaint, the issues covered under this policy and how we deal with complaints about housing management services.

You can also make a complaint or comment:

email: [email protected]
phone: 0800 137 111
phone: 020 3617 7080
post: RBKC Housing Management, 37 Pembroke Road, London, W8 6PW.

Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code PDF, 338.78 KB, 42 pages

Complaints Policy Appendix 1 - Flowchart PDF, 133.33 KB, 1 page

For complaints or comments about Housing Management services, use the complaints and feedback form

Complaints about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs): The Council’s Parking Services will not put a complaint through the formal complaints process if the complaint concerns the issue of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), a response to a Notice to Owner, or a removal representation. If you wish to make a challenge or representation against your PCN please visit ‘Manage your PCN'.
Complaints about Sports Centres: Please contact the General Manager at Chelsea Sports Centre in the first instance. In the event that you do not receive a satisfactory response then the matter should be escalated to the Greenwich Leisure Limited Partnership manager. Visit Greenwich Leisure Limited website for contact details.