Complaints procedure

Complaining about a council service

We encourage complaints from our customers - if we make a mistake, we want to know about it so we can put things right.

Faults: We call problems with things like graffiti, missed bin collection and faulty street lights etc faults. We do not deal with these under this procedure. See the streets fault reporting page for details.

Complaints: There are two stages to our complaints procedure. We will tell you at each stage who is dealing with your complaint and when you can expect to receive a response.

Please note that we can only consider complaints about matters that have occurred in the last 12 months, although we may consider a complaint outside the 12 month period in exceptional circumstances.

Stage 1:  What to do if you are unhappy with one of our services

If you would like to make a complaint about a service or a department, you can use our online complaints form or find out who to complain to from the 'Who do I complain to' section. Other options are:

  • tell a member of staff who works in the service you want to complain about.
  • ring us on 08456 122 660 or email customer.services@richmond.gov.uk
  • fill in a complaint form or visit one of our reception areas where a member of staff can help you to fill in a form.

We will let you know we have received your complaint within two working days.

A manager will investigate your complaint and reply to you within 15 working days. If we cannot reply within this time, we will let you know.

If you are not happy with our response, tell us. We will listen to your concerns and, if appropriate, give you advice about how to take your complaint to the second stage.

Stage 2:  What to do if you are still not happy

If you are not satisfied with the manager's reply at stage one, you can ask for your complaint to be escalated to stage two. You should contact the person named at the end of your stage one letter, either by phone, email or letter. We will let you know we have received your complaint within two working days.

  • A senior manager will investigate your complaint and write a letter for the Director of the service to consider, approve and sign. This senior manager is called the Investigating Officer.
  • Another senior manager from a different service, not connected to the one you have complained about, will work alongside the Investigating Officer during the stage two investigation, to ensure all aspects of the complaint are responded to, and to provide an objective viewpoint. This senior officer is called the Independent Person.
  • We will tell you the names of both the Investigating Officer and the Independent Person.
  • The Director will aim to send you their letter within 25 working days. If we cannot reply within this time, we will let you know why, and when you can expect to hear from us.

At the end of stage two, if you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman.