Complaints are a way for you to have your say and to help us improve our service delivery. Here is some information about why it is important and how you submit a complaint.

We try to offer quality services to all of our customers at all times. However, we realise that this sometimes goes wrong; when it does, we really appreciate your feedback as this gives us the opportunity to try and put things right and improve. The Council treats all complaints seriously and our procedure is a way for you to have your say. The complaints function of the council is managed by the Customer Liaison Team.

Before making a complaint you should ensure you have given us an opportunity to resolve the issue you are raising. You should contact the relevant service first. You can find details of our services on our Homepage. If the service is not able to resolve the issues you can make a complaint. The complaints process looks at how we have delivered services or reached decisions. Requests for help with problems in your local area should be directed to the relevant service first.

What will we do to put things right?

We will always try to deal with your complaint on the spot. Where this is not possible, we will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days.

We will tell you who is dealing with your complaint, give you their contact details and tell you when you can expect to receive a response. We will send you a final response within 10 working days (unless your complaint is complicated).  

When investigating complaints, if it shows that we are at fault, we will look at the most suitable way of putting things right to meet your satisfaction.

What can I do if I am not satisfied? Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)

Someone in the Customer Liaison Team will investigate further how your complaint was handled and whether the final response was justified. 

You can also contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman at any stage of your complaint if you are unhappy with the response you receive from us. The Ombudsman is independent of government. All investigations are private and there is no charge for the service. 

You can contact the LGSCO directly using the methods found on their website.

The Ombudsman has a Complaint Handling Code which sets out advice and guidance for councils on how to handle complaints. More information on the Code can be found via the Ombudsman’s website.

Policies and procedures

Complaint Policy

Our Complaints Policy details how City of Wolverhampton Council manages and responds to comments, compliments and complaints - this is available in the Downloads section on this page.

Procedure on the management of unreasonable customer behaviour

How City of Wolverhampton Council will decide which customers will be treated as unreasonable or unreasonably persistent, and what we will do in those circumstances is found here in the Unreasonable Customer Behaviour procedure in the Downloads section.

Service standards when making a complaint

You should expect to receive an acknowledgement in 5 working days and a response within 10 working days from when we received your complaint. 

If your complaint is more complex then more time may be needed to do a thorough investigation. You will be advised if more time is needed and when you can expect to receive a response from us. More information is available via our Complaints Policy in the downloads section.

If your enquiry is in relation to a missed bin, fly tipping, new bin/damaged bin or assisted collection please submit your information via ‘Report it’ link in the Waste and Recycling section of the website.

If your enquiry is in relation to licensing (vehicle or driver) please submit your information using the Licensing contact form.

Ways to make a complaint

Please note there is a different complaints procedure for the following areas:

Adult Social Care complaints     Children's Social Care complaints

Public Health complaints           Housing Management Complaints

If your complaint isn't regarding one of these services above, then you can submit your complaint in the following ways: 

We are committed to making sure the way we work does not put disabled people at a disadvantage and to meeting our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. If you need any help or support to use our service, please let us know and we will consider what changes we can make.

A complaints form can also be requested from the Customer Liaison Team. It can also be requested in:

  • different languages
  • large print
  • Braille
  • audio
  • another format

More information is also available on our translation and interpreting services page. 

Make a complaint

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In order to supply an audio complaint, you will need to record your complaint using your own device and then upload that file below

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