If you have a comment, compliment or complaint

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If you have a comment or compliment

We would like to hear from you if you have a suggestion about how we can improve our service or if you are happy with any part of the service you have received. You can do this in person or by letter, email or telephone - see our contact details below.

If you have a complaint

We take complaints very seriously. While we try to provide a good service, we know that sometimes things go wrong so we have developed a complaints procedure for you to use if you feel that this is the case.

We aim to sort out complaints quickly and fairly. We will try to sort out any mistake or misunderstanding straight away, but sometimes it may take longer. If this is the case, we will tell you how long it will take.

A complaint is usually about a specific incident, such as:

the way in which we responded to your original problem
the attitude or behaviour of our staff
our failure to meet our standards of performance

Our customer promise

If you think that we have broken our promises, or if you feel we’ve made a mistake, we take that very seriously. We will:

make sure you know how to make your voice heard through our complaints procedure
train our staff so they know how to deal with your complaint
acknowledge your complaint within five working days
respond fully within 10 working days for a first-stage complaint, 15 working days for a second-stage complaint and 20 working days for a third-stage complaint
investigate your complaint thoroughly and without taking sides
keep your complaint confidential and be fair to everybody involved
let you know the progress of your complaint
apologise when we’ve made a mistake, and take steps immediately to fix the problem
learn lessons from where we’ve gone wrong in order to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes in the future

How to contact us

Call on 023 9283 4702
Visit us in person
Write to
The comments, compliments and complaints team, Portsmouth City Council,
Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2ZX
Use our online compliment, comment or complaint form
Send an email to ccc@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

If you need an interpreter or sign-language interpreter, we can arrange this for you. We will usually need seven days’ notice to set this up.

Social care

There is a different process to follow if you wish to complain about adult social care or children and families social care.

Young people

A leaflet is available for young people so they can make any comments, compliments or complaints. For more information please call 023 9284 1172.

Councillors

Investigation of complaints that a councillor may have breached the code of conduct forms part of the standards committee's role. Use the link below for more information.