Sefton Council is committed to improving the quality of
services provided to you.
If you are not entirely 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 welcome complaints because
they give us the chance to see where we can improve our
services.
We hope that any concerns which you may have can be resolved
immediately. However, if you are not satisfied with the response
you receive, follow the stages below which explain how to make a
complaint.
It may be helpful to clarify what
the complaints arrangements do not cover, for example:
- Requests for service (e.g. Reporting
a faulty street light or a missed bin collection. This would only
be a complaint if you think the Councils response is inadequate. If
you want to contact us about a particular matter, contact details,
and in many cases a link to further information, can be found in
our A–Z of
services).
- Requests for information or explanation of Council policy or
practice.
- Complaints for which there is a right of appeal (e.g. Refusal
of planning permission, tripping claim or Housing & Council Tax
Benefit appeals).
- Complaints already referred to the Local Government
Ombudsman.
Please follow the stages below if:
- We do something wrong
- We fail to do something you expect
- You were not treated courteously by a member of staff
Stage 1
Contact us by using one of the following methods:
- On-line by completing our on-line
complaint/ comment/ compliment form.
- By post to Sefton Council – Corporate Complaints, PO Box 132,
Bootle. L20 3WU
- Telephone 0845 140 0845 (Minicom 0151 934 4657)
- In person at our Bootle One Stop Shop, 324/342
Stanley Road, Bootle or our Southport One Stop Shop, Cambridge
Arcade, Southport
A large print version of the
leaflet ‘Complaints, Comments, Compliments’ (Word 36kb) is
available for visually impaired customers, and a minicom service is
available for the hard of hearing on 0151 934 4657.
Your complaint will be looked at by an
officer in the department to which your complaint relates. We will
try to answer your complaint within two weeks of receipt. If the
complaint cannot be dealt with in that time, we will explain why
there is a delay and say when we expect to sort out the matter.
Stage 2
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, contact
us again by one of the methods above and ask us to look at your
complaint again. Your complaint will be reviewed by a named senior
manager and we will respond to you within a further two weeks.
Stage 3
If the matter is still not resolved, contact us again. The Chief
Executive will review your complaint, and respond to you within a
further two weeks.
Remember, you may at any time refer the matter to your local Councillor
who will be happy to take up the complaint with the relevant
service.
Local Government Ombudsman
If, after completing all three stages, you are still not
satisfied with the Councils response, you can take your complaint
to the Local Government Ombudsman at:
The Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Telephone 0845 602 1983 or 0300 061 0614
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk
View the Local Government
Ombudsman's Annual Report for Sefton MBC 2008/09 (incuding
covering letter) (pdf 64kb)
Comments and Compliments
We welcome your feedback on all our services.
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 complete our on-line
complaint/ comment/ compliment form.