Comments, compliments and complaints
Read information about Comments, Compliments and Complaints in Easy Read.
Comments and compliments
Leave a comment - A comment is a suggestion or statement about our services, a decision that we have made or a policy we have released.
Share a compliment - We like to hear when we have done something well so we can share this with our teams and make sure we learn from our successes.
Complaints
Making a complaint - A complaint is a way of sharing your dissatisfaction with our service, actions, or a lack of action. This would include services provided by our own staff, or those acting on our behalf. Some complaints are treated differently because there is different guidance and legislation.
Service requests
A service request - is when you request that the Council provides a service, fixes a problem or reconsiders a decision. This is not a complaint and will be passed to the responsible service to action.
Some examples of a service request would be:
- a missed bin collection
- reporting a pothole
- requesting a property repair
If you have not already reported the issue to us before you can do so on our report page.
Use of AI
We are aware that many people and organisations (including this council) are exploring the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, to support them with communication and to help summarise and understand information.
We welcome feedback in any format, but it is important that you check correspondence for any false information or unsubstantiated statements before it is submitted to us.
Where necessary we may ask you to review your correspondence or provide us with further details to:
- Check the accuracy of the information included
- Add or adjust details so they reflect your experience in your own words.
- Clarify the impact this had on you, so we understand how it affected you personally
Your voice matters most and these checks will help us to respond to you in the most meaningful way.
Complaint guidance
An appeal may be more appropriate than complaining in the first instance.
Find out about appealing a decision, including the different types of appeals and processes.
We do not accept unacceptable or unreasonable behaviour. Please treat our staff with respect.
We have a different procedure when making a complaint about a school or a complaint about a Councillor.
You can also read our whistleblowing policy.
If you’re on a child protection plan, child in need plan, have been or are in care, and think that you have been treated unfairly you have the right to complain.
As a child or young person, you are allowed an advocate. An advocate can speak on your behalf to make sure that your views and feelings are heard.
If you're a child or young person, you can give your feedback on our children's rights page. This page explains your rights as a child or young person and lists support services you’re entitled to.
You can also make a complaint. If you need help making a complaint you can find out more about assistance on the children's rights page.
The Complaints and Compliments Team at West Northants Council manages the complaints process for Northamptonshire Children’s Trust under a service level agreement. This means we process your complaints here on our website via the complaint button below.
Our aim is to bring a swift and satisfactory resolution for people who have feedback or complaints about adult social care to help improve our performance for all service users, their families and carers.
Make a complaint via the make a comment, complaint or compliment button below.
Highway complaints are about the roads, floods, street lighting and the service you’ve received. We are committed to continuously improving our services so if you have a complaint about our Highways, we would like to hear about it.
If you have a complaint to make, the first step is to make us aware of the problem so that we have an opportunity to resolve the situation. This can be done by reporting a highway problem online or by emailing [email protected]. You can also report a broken streetlight. Reporting a problem is not the same as making a complaint.
Complaints about our service – You can make a complaint about the service you’ve received from our highways team via the ‘make a complaint’ button below.
You can make a complaint about any of our waste services by using the complaint button below. We work with different partners to help us deliver waste and environmental services in certain areas of the town. In the first instance we may ask the provider of the service to address your complaint and we will monitor their response.
All complaints about contracted services will be shared with the Council’s Contract Managers and the responsible Head of Service.
Our partners will keep you informed of the progress of your complaint and when you may expect a response.
West Northants Council is the overall governing body for the delivery of housing services. We work closely with our partners to monitor the handling of complaints and ensure a high standard of service for our residents.
The following housing services (which fall under the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman) are managed directly by the council and will follow the council’s complaints procedure.
- housing allocations
- temporary accommodation
- homelessness
- private sector housing
The following housing services (which fall under the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman) are managed by Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH). This is on behalf of the council as your landlord in Northampton, and by different providers in the rest of the county. Complaints about these services will be passed across to NPH to be responded to in the first instance.
- repairs and work being carried out to your home
- concerns about property condition
- issues about how your tenancy is being managed
- communal area cleaning
- tree and grounds maintenance
- rent payment and collection
- leasehold services
- how reported incidents on anti-social behaviour are managed
- mutual exchanges
- aids and adaptations
If you have already complained to your housing provider and / or the council about issues relating to your tenancy or Social Housing and you remain unhappy, then you may ask that the appropriate Ombudsman Service consider your complaint. Complaints about services provided by WNC in the first list above are regulated by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Complaints about services provided by NPH in the second list above are regulated by the Housing Ombudsman.
You can find more information about the services that are covered by each Ombudsman on their websites.
Find information about NPH performance and tenant satisfaction on the NPH website.
The County Mortuary Service is delivered jointly by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN).
Your feedback is important in helping West Northamptonshire Council and the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire provide a respectful, compassionate and high-quality mortuary service for local families.
Whether the service is delivered directly by the Council or the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, we remain responsible for ensuring your experience is safe, dignified and handled with care and that it reaches the right team to respond to you.
If your feedback relates to:
- the new County Mortuary at Riverside
- the transfer of loved ones from hospital mortuaries, or
- viewing arrangements and bereavement support,
we will ensure it is passed promptly to the appropriate Complaints Team within the Council and/or the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire to follow their procedure.
- Complaints for Kettering General Hospital - email [email protected]
- Complaints procedure for Northampton General Hospital
If you are unsure who is responsible, we will work this out for you and ensure your concern is passed to the correct organisation. Some situations may involve both the Council and the hospitals.
In these cases:
- we will agree which organisation leads the investigation
- both organisations will share information and contribute to the response
- you will receive one clear, coordinated reply explaining, what we found, whether anything went wrong, what actions we are taking to put things right and how we will prevent similar issues in future
If you remain unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, then we will signpost you to the appropriate Ombudsman service to escalate your concerns.
Concerns about the Council-run mortuary service would come under the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).
Concerns about NHS-delivered elements of the service would come under the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
Where a complaint involves both organisations, the Ombudsmen have a joint working protocol, so your case will be coordinated between them.
Who to contact
West Northamptonshire Council Complaints Team
- Email: [email protected]
Kettering General Hospital
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: 01536 493181
Northampton General Hospital
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: 01604 523489
Make a complaint
You can make a complaint by calling us, writing to us or via the button below. If you choose to write a letter, please make sure you leave your contact details alongside the complaint. You can find our contact details on our contact us page.
If you need help making a complaint about one of our services, we have a dedicated independent advocacy page.
The service is for people with physical or learning disabilities, older people, carers, and those with mental health needs. They will help you make informed choices and decisions about your wellbeing and social care.
Complaint (Stage 1)
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days.
The complaint will be investigated by a senior member of staff, who may ask you for more information while dealing with your complaint.
We will provide a written response within 10 working days. If this is going to take longer, we will contact you to let you know when you can expect to hear from us.
Escalation (Stage 2)
If you are not satisfied with our first response, you can ask for a review of your complaint. You must do this within 20 working days of the response you originally received. This review will be carried out by an independent senior manager who will review the first response and provide a written response to the escalated complaint.
We will acknowledge this complaint within 3 working days and tell you who will be conducting the review.
We will provide a written response within 20 working days. If this is going to take longer, we will contact you to let you know when you can expect to hear from us.
If you are still unhappy
If you remain dissatisfied with both responses, you have the right to ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate the matter. The Ombudsman can investigate complaints about how the Council has done something or failed to do something.
They do not usually criticise the merits of a decision which has been properly taken simply because someone may disagree with it, but they will look at how a decision was made.
The Ombudsman will not usually consider a complaint until the Council has had a chance to resolve the matter through its own procedure.
Their contact details are:
Last updated 29 April 2026