Complaints
You can make a formal complaint in the way that best suits you – online, by email, by phone or by letter. We have put this information together to help you understand what is, and what isn’t, classed as a complaint.
What is a complaint?
The councils definition of a complaint is:
“An expression of dissatisfaction about a council service (whether that service is provided directly by the council or by a contractor or partner) that requires a response”.
This includes where we, or one of our contractors:
- Provide a poor service or fail to meet our service standards
- Fail to follow our own policies and procedures
- Give incorrect or misleading information
- Fail to do something we said we would
- Communicate in a rude or inappropriate manner.
What isn’t a complaint?
A complaint is not a request for service, help or information. The following are examples of things which are not treated as complaints:
- Reporting a repair – when you first report a repair, this is dealt with as a request for service
- Reporting anti-social behaviour – where you want to complain about a neighbour or something happening in your community, although you may think of this as a complaint, it is dealt with under our Housing Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and is not treated as a complaint
- General enquiries, comments and initial requests for service or information – these are dealt with as part of the Housing team’s normal business
- A legal dispute – these are dealt with by the council’s Legal team
- An insurance claim – these are dealt with by the council’s Insurance team.
Our complaints process
Stage one
We have a dedicated Housing & Corporate Complaints Officer who investigates and responds to all Stage 1 complaints. We aim to provide a reply within 10 working days. If we’re unable to do this, we will let you know.
Stage two
If you are not satisfied with our initial response, you can ask for your complaint to be escalated to Stage 2. It will be reviewed by a senior manager within the team your complaint relates to. They will examine your original complaint, look at how it was handled, the procedures followed, and the reply given. They will then write to you with their conclusions.
If you are still not satisfied with the reply, you can refer your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
You can make a complaint by :
Visiting our Council complaints, compliments or feedback page.
Emailing complaints@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk
Calling 01303 853300 or by writing to us at the Civic Centre.
Please do not use these methods to report a service request, instead contact
We aim to provide an initial response to general service requests within five working days, although depending on the nature of your enquiry, it may take longer for us to provide a full response.