Others you can turn to
You can talk to your Member of Parliament (MP) or local ward councillor at any stage of your complaint. You should tell them what has happened so far.
Making your complaint via a councillor or MP
You may choose to make your complaint about our services directly to:
- the MP for the constituency in which you live
- a councillor for the ward in which you live
Go to Ordnance Survey: UK parliament constituencies or Ordnance Survey: Thurrock wards to check your constituency or ward on a map.
We welcome the involvement of local representatives, but all complaints will be processed in the same way, regardless of how they are brought to our attention.
If you make a complaint to us via your MP or councillor, we will presume you give consent for your personal information to be shared with them, where relevant to the complaint.
Referring your complaint to an ombudsman
Ombudsman organisations investigate complaints that haven't been resolved by the organisation complained against. They are independent, impartial and provide a free service.
If you are not satisfied with how we have dealt with your complaint, you can refer it to either the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Housing Ombudsman. The ombudsman will contact you directly and look into your complaint.
The ombudsman will only look at how we have dealt with the complaint. They will ask you to give us a fair chance to do this fully before involving them. This means you will have to go through the appropriate complaints process before writing to the ombudsman.