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 contact us, 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 on how we deal with complaints will provide information on the different procedures for handling your complaint.

The council takes all customer complaints about its service seriously, including discrimination. The following link will give you more information on the council’s approach to Equality and Diversity.

You can telephone or write to the manager of the service you are giving feedback about.

OR you can contact Customer Relations by telephone or email, the contact details can be found on the right of the page under Contact Us.  Your can also contact us by post:-

Post: Customer Relations, Assistant Chief Executive, People, Central Bedfordshire Council, Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, Beds SG17 5TQ

If you require translation or interpretation to make a complaint we can arrange this for you.  Email:customer.services@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

We want to give you the best service we can. To do this we need your help. Cover all the relevant points, but be as brief as you can. Avoid writing long letters or emails – you may feel you need to write in great detail but in most cases this is not necessary.

Give your contact telephone and email details, as well as your address. Then, if the person dealing with the complaint needs more information, he or she can contact you and ask.

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.

The Health Act 2009 gives the Local Government Ombudsman new responsibilities to investigate complaints about adult care providers from people who fund or arrange their own care services (self funders). It covers both residential and domiciliary care services.

From 4 October 2010 self funders who are not able to resolve their complaint with the care provider will be able to refer their complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. 

Their contact details can be found on the following link Local Government Ombudsman.

Tips for making a complaint - Self Funders (PDF 1.8MB) For people who fund their own care - these complaints are not covered by the Council's complaints procedure.

The Monitoring Officer considers complaints made about the conduct of Councillors. You can make a complaint about a councillor online using this electronic form.

Central Bedfordshire Council is keen to know what your views are about the services that it provides. You may have a compliment to pay, a comment to make or you may wish to make a complaint about the service. This section tells you how to let us know what you think about the services that you receive.

Please note that complaints about schools should be made directly to the school concerned. This is because complaints about schools have to be dealt with by the school rather than by the Local Education Authority. Every school is required to have a Complaints Policy which is available on request. However, in the first instance you should discuss the matter with the form teacher, or the head of year at the school and, subsequently, if you wish to complain formally you should write to the headteacher.