Complaints, Compliments and Suggestions
We want to provide excellent services to you first time, every time. But sometimes we get things wrong. When that happens, it’s important you tell us so we can take action.
- How to complain about a council service
- How to compliment us or make a suggestion
- How to complain about Worcestershire Regulatory Services
- How to make a complaint about a district, town or parish councillor
When should I complain?
We want to hear from you if:
- There are delays receiving a service or responding to a service request.
- The service you received was not as you expected.
- You were treated in an unprofessional way.
Will you deal with all complaints?
Some things cannot be dealt with through the complaints process. For example:
- A request for a service i.e missed bins (unless there has been a repeated service failure).
- The conduct of a councillor. These will be forwarded to our Monitoring Officer.
- Where a crime may have happened. These should be directed to the police.
- When the issue is the responsibility of another organisation.
- Disagreements over policy decisions or those of the Government.
- Where there is a separate appeals process such as is the case with planning or parking fines.
- Complaints which are more than 12 months old.
How do I complain?
Complaints can be made 24/7 by filling in the Wychavon online complaints form to make sure we resolve your complaint as fast as possible. You can also email
We will need the following information:
- Your name, address and contact details
- What you are complaining about
- When it happened or when it should have happened
- Why and how you think we should have done things differently
- What you think we should do to put things right
All complaints will be treated as confidential and personal information will not be revealed to anyone outside of Wychavon District Council without your permission. We cannot deal with anonymous complaints but you can also ask someone else to make the complaint for you such as your local district councillor or your MP.
Read our whistleblowing policy on the council constitution page.
What happens when I complain?
Your complaint will be acknowledged within two working days.
A full investigation will take place by the service involved and we will respond within 12 working days.
We will then provide an explanation and, if required, an apology and details of what we will do to put the situation right.
If you are not happy with the response you can ask for it to be investigated by a senior manager from another department who will send you their findings within 15 working days. In some cases investigations can take longer, but you will be informed if that is the case.
What if I'm still not satisfied?
If you are still not happy you have the right to take your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate by writing to:
Local Government and Social Care
Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
You can also visit the local government ombudsmen website(opens in a new window) or call 0300 061 0614 or text ‘call back’ on 0762 480 3014 (Monday–Friday, 8.30am–5pm).
Unreasonable complaints
Unreasonable, vexatious or persistent complaints will be dealt with in line with our Unreasonable Complaints Procedure, available on request.
Compliments and other suggestions
If you have very good service we would also like to hear about it. A compliment can be about a service, a department or a staff member. Compliments are given to the service or member of staff concerned and reported to senior management and councillors.
You can use the Wychavon online compliments form(opens in a new window) or email
Complaints against councillors
If you want to complain about the conduct of a Member of Wychavon District Council or a Member of one of our Parish Councils or Town Councils, please read the documents accessed on the Member Conduct Committee page and submit the complaint using the online form.
Complaints about Worcestershire Regulatory Services
Our licensing and some other regulatory functions, for example pollution control, are provided by Worcester Regulatory Services. If you have a complaint about a function relation to Worcestershire Regulatory Services then please email
Please see the pdf Worcestershire Regulatory Services complaints procedure (112 KB) for more information.