Effective complaint handling enables our customers to be heard and understood. The starting point for this is a shared understanding of what constitutes a service request and what constitutes a complaint.

A service request may be defined as: “a request that the organisation provides or improves a service, fixes a problem or reconsiders a decision”. We will aim to resolve matters to your satisfaction before they become a complaint. 

A complaint may be defined as: ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual or group of individuals.’ 

You should not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as such. A complaint that is submitted via a third party or representative should still be handled in line with our complaints policy.

Local Councillor - You may also wish to take the matter up through your local Councillor.

Housing Ombudsman - Please note that you can contact Housing Ombudsman Service throughout your complaint.

We acknowledge that the complaint handling code from both the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman expect stage one complaints to be completed within 10 working days. We are ambitious and working hard to reduce our timescales in line with these expectations, and will be closely monitoring our performance. Our current timescales are below and these will be kept under review for the next 12 months.

Acknowledgement - Once you have submitted your complaint, we will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days sharing with you a CU reference number. This is a unique reference number that you can use when corresponding with us regarding your complaint. We will also summarise the main issues you are raising and the outcomes you are seeking if we have not accurately reflected what you are unhappy about, please let us know as soon as possible.

Stage 1 - Complaints will be completed within a maximum of 20 working days from the date of acknowledgement. This is unless we explain why we cannot complete the complaint investigation within that time frame, and agree a date with you for completion of the complaint investigation. In your stage one complaint response we will clearly provide information on 

• the complaint stage
• the complaint definition 
• the decision on the complaint 
• the reasons for any decisions made 
• the details of any remedy offered to put things right 
• details of any outstanding actions 
• details of how to escalate the matter to stage two if the resident is not satisfied with the answer

If you are not happy with the response you receive at stage one, you can contact us within a month and ask for your complaint to be investigated at stage two.

Stage 2 - Complaint responses will be completed within a total of 20 working days from the acknowledgement date of the complaint. To do so, we will need to understand 

• What you are specifically unhappy about within the stage one response 
• The impact of on you of the concerns you have raised
• What you expect the Council to do to put things right 

Your feedback on these points will be considered. If we believe the stage one response answered all of these points, or if we need clarification on any of them, we will contact you. We will then follow our acknowledgement process. Depending on the complexity of the investigation we may need to extend the timescales for stage two investigations by an additional 10 working days but this will be agreed with you in good time. We will keep you up to date on progress at agreed intervals. In your stage two complaint response we will clearly provide information on:

• the complaint stage 
• the complaint definition 
• the decision on the complaint 
• the reasons for any decisions made 
• the details of any remedy offered to put things right 
• details of any outstanding actions and 
• details of how to escalate the matter to the Housing Ombudsman Service if you remain dissatisfied. 

Note – we would expect you to send us a stage two request within a month of the date of our stage one response. We will use our discretion when considering stage two requests received after this

Housing Ombudsman - Please note that you can contact Housing Ombudsman Service throughout your complaint. For more information visit the Housing Ombudsman Service website.

We will not normally consider a complaint that is made more than twelve months after the individual first became aware of the issue they want to complain about.

Anyone can make a complaint on your behalf if you are unable to do so. They will need signed authorisation from you.  Please be assured that all complaints, comments, and compliments will be dealt with in confidence.

Milton Keynes Council Customer Service Privacy Notice

• Complaints Policy

It is important that all members of the community have equal access to our Customer Feedback Policy. If you do not have English as a first language or might need help with interpretation and translation services, or require sign language, braille or large print, we can make this policy available to you in an accessible format. Contact our complaints team on the information above.