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Standards, complaints, appeals and objections

Find out about the standards we set ourselves and how you can complain about the council or a school in North Lincolnshire.

#BestCouncil

Our ambition is to be the #BestCouncil that we can be for our residents and we want everyone to be safe, well, prosperous and connected.

Our Customer Service Standards set out what you can expect from us when you contact the council.

Let us know about your latest experience with us. Read our customer service standards below.

Our Customer service standards:

Treating you right

We will:

  • Be welcoming and polite and treat you fairly and with respect
  • Listen to what you have to say
  • Tell you the name of the person who is dealing with your enquiry
  • Respond to your contacts and enquiries promptly
  • Protect your personal information
  • Explain what to do next if you are not satisfied with how you have been treated

Keeping you informed

We will:

  • Publish a wide range of information online about what we do
  • Make sure that our information and responses are clear and easy to understand
  • Tell you what we will do and when you can expect a response
  • Explain why if we cannot help you and if possible refer you to an organisation that can

Making it easy

We will:

  • Ensure that everyone can access our services
  • Enable you to do more online at a time that suits you
  • Explain clearly how to contact us in other ways
  • Provide convenient ways for you to give us your views

Getting it right

We will:

  • Aim to resolve your enquiry correctly and at the first point of contact
  • Show you our council identity badge if we visit your home or business premises
  • Apologise if we have got something wrong and put it right if this is possible
  • Use your feedback to improve our services

In return we ask you to:

  • Treat us with respect
  • Provide us with the information we need to help you
  • Use our online services
  • Work with us to resolve matters

Our ambition is to be the #BestCouncil that we can be for our residents and we want everyone to be safe, well, prosperous and connected.

By engaging with you better and working together we can realise our ambition.

Be connected

Be heard

Be involved

Be enabled

North Lincolnshire Council is committed to delivering excellent customer service. We welcome feedback from our customers, as this will help us to improve our services and meet your needs more effectively.

The Your Right to Complain leaflet [PDF, 86Kb] explains how to make a complaint. Read our Customer Complaints and Contact Policy [PDF, 342Kb] to see how we deal with complaints.

If you feel that we have fallen short of the service you expect, we encourage you to contact the service directly in the first instance. Staff there will do all they can to put things right and resolve the issue for you.

If you feel the matter is still unresolved and you wish to complain formally please email customercomplaintsteam@northlincs.gov.uk, call us on 01724 297000, or write to us at Customer Complaints Team, Church Square House, 30-40 High Street, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 6NL. Please include your name, address, email address, phone number and details of your concern.

If we have investigated your formal complaint at all stages of the council’s complaints process and you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO).

The Ombudsman may investigate your complaint and carry out a review to make sure that we dealt with your complaint correctly and fairly.

The Ombudsman is a free, independent and impartial service which does not take sides. Contact the Ombudsman at www.lgo.org.uk or phone 0300 061 0614.

Complaints relating to North Lincolnshire Council can be viewed on the LG&SCO website.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we are looking after your personal information or about the response you have received to a request for information, you can ask for an Internal Review (complaint investigation). See our Information Governance page for more information.

If you wish to complain about a school, please contact the Head Teacher.

If your complaint is about the Head Teacher, please contact the Chair of the Governing Bodies.

If you are unhappy with a decision or an outcome of a process, there may be a separate appeals procedure:

If you would like to make an insurance claim against the council, please visit our insurance page.