Corporate compliments and complaints

At Chichester District Council, we try to make sure that you always receive a first class service.

Our services are always grateful to receive positive feedback for excellent service. Any compliments received will be brought to the attention of the relevant manager and the officer involved.

We hope you will never need to complain. However, we recognise that sometimes things do go wrong. When they do, we want to deal with the problem fairly and promptly and to take appropriate action to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Complaint or compliment form

Alternatively, you can contact us by:

• email feedback@chichester.gov.uk;
• phone 01243 785166;
• in person at the council offices at East Pallant House, or;
• by letter to: Customer Services, Chichester District Council, East Pallant House, East Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TY.

What happens after a complaint is made

If you have made a complaint we will let you know we have receive your complaint within 3 working days. We will let you know the name of the officer who will be investigating your complaint.

Within 10 working days we will provide a full explanation. If appropriate, we will give you details of how we will remedy the situation (or in complicated cases a progress report).

If you are still not satisfied with our reply

If you are unhappy with how your complaint has been dealt with, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed within one month by the Divisional Manager of the service concerned.

Please give us:

• as much information as possible about the issue;
• how you would like it to be resolved, and;
• why you are unhappy about how we dealt with your original complaint.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days. We will also let you know the name of the officer who will be investigating your complaint.

We will provide a full explanation within 15 working days. If appropriate, we will also tell you how we will remedy the situation (or in complicated cases a progress report).

If you are still not happy, you have the right to take your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman, which is an independent body and investigates complaints about councils.

Annual Letter from the Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsman is independent of local authorities and he considers complaints from members of the public about the services that councils provide. All Councils receive an Annual Letter from the Local Government Ombudsman in which he reviews the complaints received against each council and how it has performed in dealing with complaints during that year.

To read the most recent Annual Letter for Chichester District Council, please see the Local Government Ombudsmen - Chichester annual reviews (opens new window) webpage. The Local Government Ombudsman (opens new window) website also contains further details of both this council's performance along with all other Authorities across the Country in dealing with complaints.