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How to complain about a service

 
Here is our six-step guide to the complaints process. If you have a complaint about a service, please first complain to the service directly, as outlined in Step one below.

During the complaints process, you can contact the Council’s Chief Executive, your Councillor or Member of Parliament at any stage for advice or help.

Step one: contact the service directly

If you want to comment or complain about a particular Council service, you should contact the service directly in the first instance. 

See our A-Z of services to find the service that you wish to complain about. Those links will take you to contact details for providers of that service.

If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction or you cannot find a contact, move to Step Two.

Step two: make a formal complaint

You can either:

If you are unsure of who to complain to, call the Contact Centre on 0208 8921 8949. Contact Centre staff can log a complaint on your behalf. You can also visit the service centre at Riverside House or Eltham Centre.

Contact centre and service centre staff will be able to register your complaint with the appropriate department.

Step three: what do we do about your formal complaint?

  • We will try to confirm that we have received your complaint within five working days.
  • We will forward your complaint to the manager of the service concerned.
  • The manager will normally send you a full written reply within 15 working days of getting your complaint.

Step four: if you are not happy with your reply

If you are not happy with your reply, you can contact the Complaints Officer for the relevant service
The Complaints Officer will:

  • Confirm that they have received your complaint within five working days.
  • Arrange for your complaint to be considered by a more senior member of staff. You will be given their name and they will normally send you a full written reply within 20 working days.

Step five: if you are unhappy with the second response to your formal complaint

  • The Complaints Officer will tell you how you can appeal to the Chief Executive of Greenwich Council. You should appeal within four weeks of receiving the second response to your complaint.
  • The Chief Executive will investigate your complaint for a final time. You will be informed that the Chief Executive has received your complaint within five working days.
  • The Chief Executive will normally send you a full written reply within 30 working days.

Step six: if you are still unhappy with your reply

You can complain to your the Local Government Ombudsman.

A to Z of Services

Council & democracy

About Greenwich

Contact information