Making a complaint, comment or compliment
We aim to serve the community as effectively and courteously as
possible, however, even the best service sometimes goes wrong, and
if it does, we want to know about it. Your enquiry or complaint may
give us the chance to put things right and improve services, view
our complaints procedure (MS Word format).
We also like to hear about comments and compliments.
When should you complain?
- When we have failed to do something we should have done.
- When we have agreed to do something but haven't.
- When we have given poor service.
- When we have treated you unfairly or discourteously.
How should you make a complaint?
If you would like to make an enquiry regarding a service or
request for something to be rectified then please contact the
appropriate department or complete the
online
feedback form.
If you wish to make a formal complaint you can
complete an
online complaints form or download a PDF version of the
complaints form.
If you have made a complaint to the Council, which has been
reviewed by the Chief Executive and are not satisfied with the
outcome, you may pursue the matter through the Ombudsman.
District Councillors
If you want to make a complaint about one of our District
Councillors there is a separate procedure to do this, a full
explanation is given in the Standards Committee section.
Compliments
South Lakeland District Council would like to achieve a balanced
view of their customers and service users and to that end we will
receive and record any compliments made. We will use this positive
feedback for a number of purposes. Any compliments received will be
fed back to individuals and teams concerned to boost esteem and
morale. We will also use compliments as an indication of us
“getting it right” and use them as a form of good practice or best
practice from which the rest of the organisation will learn.
Compliments will be recorded and reported in a similar format to
complaints.
Comments
On most occasions useful information is received in the form of
a comment rather than as a complaint. Again we would like to
encourage comments and will try to make it as easy as possible for
customers to make comments on any aspect of the Authority. Where
possible and practical we will record comments in a more informal
manner. However comments received will be analysed to look for
common themes or trends. These will be recorded and will be used to
advise operational managers of potential improvements to their
customer facing services.
To make a comment or compliment you can use the contact details
below or you can telephone on 0845 050 4434, you can send us an
email to customer.services@southlakeland.gov.uk or
you can call in at one of our offices or download a
PDF version of the complaints form.
Contact details
Customer Services Manager
South Lakeland House
Lowther Street
Kendal
Cumbria LA9 4UD
0845 050 4434
or
Chief Executive
South Lakeland House
Lowther Street
Kendal
Cumbria LA9 4UD
0845 050 4434