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Customer comments, compliments and complaints policy

1 Introduction and foreword

1.1 North Northamptonshire council supports thousands of residents every year and welcomes feedback on the services it provides. Feedback is key in helping the council develop and improve the services it offers. We are committed to delivering our services to a high standard and are guided by our values:

  • Customer-focused
  • Respectful
  • Efficient
  • Supportive
  • Trustworthy

We want residents to share their ideas on how we can do things better.  Let us know when we’re doing things well, so we continue to do so.  Tell us when things have gone wrong so we can put things right. Feedback helps us learn and build modern public services to support our community.

2 Scope

2.1 This policy sets out how we will respond to comments, compliments, and complaints.

2.2 This policy does not apply to everything we do. Some decisions and services are out of scope of this policy because they fall under statutory regulations or other policies including:

  • Complaints about the conduct of Senior Officers are dealt with by the Chief Executive Officer
  • Complaints about the conduct of the Chief Executive Officer are dealt with by the Monitoring Officer
  • Complaints about the conduct of a Councillor are dealt with by the Monitoring Officer

2.3 Other matters out of scope of this policy include:

  • Appeals - decisions subject to appeals including:
    • school travel assistance decisions
    • planning application decisions
    • school admission/exclusion decisions
    • housing benefit decisions
    • statutory homeless reviews requested under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996
    • homeless application reviews requested under part 6 of the Housing Act 1996
  • Parking fines and penalty charge notices
  • Fixed penalty charges
  • Recharge fees for repairs
  • Planning consultation responses
  • Expressions of dissatisfaction made through a survey
  • Matters under consideration by courts or tribunals
  • Matters subject to legal action
  • Matters for insurance claims
  • Matters not related to the actions or decisions of the council or anybody acting on its behalf
  • Political comments
  • Matters raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) are responded to directly
  • Matters raised by Councillors are responded to directly
  • Matters raised by employees which fall under internal policy
  • Matters subject to internal disciplinary or grievance procedures
  • HR Recruitment complaints
  • Complaints already concluded under this policy
  • Complaints on matters which an Ombudsman Service has concluded no fault to the council

2.4 Complaints about some matters fall under different processes.

  • Complaints about Children and Young People’s Services are dealt with under the process detailed at Appendix A
  • Complaints about Adult Social Care are dealt with under the process detailed at Appendix B
  • Complaints about Housing Landlord Services are dealt with under the process detailed at Appendix C

3 Policy outcomes

3.1 This policy supports the council’s key commitment to delivering modern public services. From time to time there are occasions when our service falls short of expectations.  This policy will explain how to provide feedback and what we will do when things have gone wrong.  It has been developed using the complaint handling code of practice of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Service.  This complaint handling code set out the best practice in dealing with complaints to achieve a better service for residents.  

4 Comments, Compliments and Complaints Policy

What is feedback and how it can be made

4.1 A comment is feedback about a service or a suggestion about how we can improve it or do it differently.  You will receive an acknowledgement for your comment and if further information is required you will be contacted.

4.2 A compliment is feedback when you think we’ve done something well.  You will receive an acknowledgement for your compliment and if further information is required you will be contacted.

4.3 A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of service, actions, or lack of actions by the organization, its staff, or those acting on behalf of the organization. It may affect an individual or group of individuals and will be accepted as a complaint however received and the word complaint does not need to be used for it to be treated as such.

4.4 A service request is a request for the provision or improvement of a service, a request to fix a problem or reconsider a decision.  Action to address a service request will not stop if a complaint is raised about the issue while action is still ongoing.  You can contact us online, by telephone, in writing or in person to submit a service request.  If you submit a service request as a comment, compliment, or complaint it will be acknowledged and recorded and forwarded to the relevant service to action and respond in line with that service’s policies and processes.

4.5 Comments, compliments and complaints may be made on someone else's behalf with their written consent.

4.6 Anonymous comments, compliments or complaints may be made however, we may not be able to respond to them and a complaint may not be able to be investigated without enough information to search our records.

4.7 Please contact us as soon as practically possible about the matter you wish to raise.  Complaints should be made within 12 months of the issue arising, or when you become aware of the issue. However, some discretion may be applied depending on the merit of the complaint.  If a complaint cannot be accepted under this policy you will be provided with a explanation and you can raise the complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Service.

4.8 Comments, compliments, complaints may be made in a variety of methods to ensure accessibility.  The quickest way to give feedback is to complete our online feedback form.  You can also submit a complaint in writing, via email, by telephone or in person at our offices.  We will ask if adjustments are required and if so will endeavour to ensure reasonable adjustments are made.  We will acknowledge your feedback within 5 working days of receipt.

How complaints will be handled

4.9.1 You will receive an acknowledgment for your complaint.  It will be sent to the service you are complaining about within 5 working days of receipt.  If further information is required, you will be contacted.  Ombudsman Services details will be provided with the acknowledgment.

4.9.2 The complaint will be investigated by a senior officer of the service being complained about.

4.9.3 A written response will be provided by the service within 10 working days.
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4.9.4 If a response cannot be provided within 10 working days you will be contacted with an explanation and updated with a date for resolution.

4.9.5 If further related matters are raised about the complaint while it is still being investigated, these will be incorporated and responded to unless it would unreasonably delay the response.

4.9.6 Our response to you will set out the issues investigated, the background to the case, the evidence used in assessing the case, the reasons for the findings or decisions made.  If we identify we did something wrong we will explain what went wrong and why and take appropriate steps to remedy the service failure in line with appropriate policy.

4.9.7 If you remain dissatisfied with the response you can ask for your complaint to be looked at again; this should be done immediately or as soon as reasonably practical.

What happens if you ask for the complaint to be looked at again

4.10.1 You will receive an acknowledgment for your complaint.  It will be sent to the service you are complaining about within 5 working days of receipt.  If further information is required, you will be contacted.  Ombudsman Services details will be provided with the acknowledgment.

4.10.2 The complaint will be investigated by a different senior officer, for example, a service manager.

4.10.3 A written response will be provided within 20 working days.

4.10.4 If a response cannot be provided within 20 working days you will be advised why and when it will be provided.

4.10.5 Our response to you will set out the issues investigated, the background to the case, the evidence used in assessing the case, the reasons for the findings or decisions made.  If we identify we did something wrong we will explain what went wrong and why and take appropriate steps to remedy the service failure in line with appropriate policy.

4.10.6 This response, once provided to you, concludes the council’s complaint procedure.

4.10.7 If you remain dissatisfied with the response you have received you can raise the matter with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Service; this should be done immediately or as soon as reasonably practical.

4.10.8 You can complain directly to the Ombudsman Service within its 12 months deadline.  

Unacceptable Behaviour

4.11.1 We appreciate that sometimes upset can cause people to act of character in unacceptable ways.  We aim to deal with feedback including complaints empathetically.  However, sometimes behaviours can cross the line of what is acceptable and these unacceptable behaviours will be managed under the council’s Unacceptable Customer Behaviour Policy which can be found here.

5 Considerations

5.1 Consultation

There are no consultation requirements associated with this update to policy.

5.2 Equality Implications

The council is fully committed to treating people fairly and understands its statutory duties under the Equality Act (2010). The equality implications have been considered. This policy has positive implications for several protected groups.  It has been written in an inclusive manner to ensure ease of understanding by the widest possible audience.  It has been written in plain English to ensure ease of translation.

We want to ensure our services are accessible for our customers to provide feedback. We will ensure a variety of access methods are available to customers.  We will monitor and evaluate our processes to ensure that they continue to be accessible to our customers.  We will seek to accommodate reasonable adjustments and preferred methods of contact.  Where a complaint has equality implications, the equality team will be notified to advise accordingly.

5.3 Health Assessments and inequalities

After consideration, there are positive health implications arising from this procedure.  This policy will help to support health and wellbeing.  The policy clearly sets out how the council will use feedback to improve services and address dissatisfaction, providing assurance of outcomes. This assurance on how matters will be handled should help reduce anxiety arising from dissatisfaction when things go wrong.

5.4 Climate Impact

After consideration, there are no climate implications arising from this procedure. This policy has no overall impact on energy consumption and resource utilisation of council resources.  It will not increase overall demand for this service.  Low resource accessibility options such as digital mitigate resource expenditure on more manual methods of contact.

5.5 Community Impact

After consideration, there are no community implications arising from this procedure.

5.6 Crime and Disorder Impact

After consideration, there are no crime and disorder implications arising from this procedure.

5.7 Data Protection Implications

After consideration, there are no data protection implications arising from this procedure.  Full details on how the council handles personal data can be found on our data protection and privacy information page.

5.8 Legal and Governance

After consideration, there are no legal implications arising from this procedure.

5.9 Resources and Financial

After consideration, there are no financial and / or resource implications arising from this procedure.

5.10 Risk

After consideration, there are no significant risks, positive or adverse arising from this procedure.

Last updated 15 June 2026