Customer feedback
Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to improving the quality of services provided to you. We welcome your feedback on our services.
Comments and Compliments
If you would like to comment on, or compliment us on how we deliver your services, or how we have dealt with your enquiry, please follow the guidelines below on how to give your feedback.
Complaints
We welcome complaints because they help us to see where we can improve our services. If you are not satisfied with the service you receive, please let us know and we will do our best to put the matter right as quickly as possible.
We hope that any concerns which you may have can be resolved immediately (within 24 hours). If not you may wish to formally complain. Guidelines below on how we deal with complaints will provide information on the different procedures for handling your complaint.
How to give your feedback
You can telephone or write to the manager of the service you are giving feedback about.
OR
Contact Customer Relations:
Telephone: 0300 300 6077 or 0300 300 4995 (please leave a message if the team is not available and they will contact you within 1 working day).
Email:customer.relations@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
Post: Customer Relations, Business Transformation, Central Bedfordshire Council, PO Box 1395, Bedford, MK42 5AN
If you require translation or interpretation to make a complaint we can arrange this for you. Email:customer.services@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you can take the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. This is an independent body who can investigate complaints about the Council. Their contact details can be found on the following link Local Government Ombudsman.
We want to give you the best service we can. To do this we need your help. Please give us as many details as you can about your feedback. If possible these should include: the name of the person you spoke to and the date, what the complaint / comment / compliment is and what you would like us to do in response.
Useful Links
How to complain about a Members conduct For information on complaints about Councillors and Members which are dealt with under different procedures.
Tips for making a complaint - Self Funders (application/pdf; 102kB) For people who fund their own care - these complaints are not covered by the Council's complaints procedure.
Safeguarding Adults from Abuse For information, enquiries and advice telephone 0300 300 8122
Hate Crime Reporting information on hate crime reporting
Requests for service (e.g. Reporting a faulty street light or a missed bin collection). These are not complaints. It may become a complaint if you do not think the Council’s response to the report is good enough.
How we deal with complaints:
Adult Social Care Services
When we receive your complaint we will assess the best way to deal with it. We may need to talk to you to decide the best option. You may have your own idea about how you would like us to deal with the complaint and we can talk to you about this. Frequently Asked Questions | Children, Families and Learning Services
There are three stages to the complaints procedure. You do not have to use all three stages. The first stage is local resolution. The manager of the service will deal with the complaint and write to you with a response. They will try to do this in 10 working days but if it is complex or detailed they may take up to 20 working days. Frequently Asked Questions | All other Council Services
There are three stages to the complaints procedure. You do not have to use all three stages. The first stage is local resolution. The manager of the service will deal with the complaint and write to you with a response. They will try to do this in 5 working days. If they need more time they should tell you a date when you can expect a full response. Frequently Asked Questions |
We have a policy for dealing with complaints that are vexatious or unreasonable (application/pdf; 2938kB). Staff should take all reasonable steps to ensure complaints are dealt with fairly but there may be times when we need to take steps to manage difficult behaviours or repeated complaints.