Make a complaint

Fife Council have introduced a revised complaint handling procedure from 1 April 2021. A published version of this procedure will be added shortly.

What is a complaint?

We regard a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.

What can I complain about?

You can complain about things like:

• Delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
• Failure to provide a service
• Our standard of service
• Council policy
• Treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• Our failure to follow the proper procedure

Your complaint may involve more than one council service or be about someone working on our behalf. If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns, we will give you information and advice to help you.

What can’t I complain about?

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:

• A routine first-time request for a service, for example, a first-time request for a housing repair or action on anti-social behaviour
• Requests for compensation from the council
• Things that are covered by a right of appeal, here are some examples:
  • If you have received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for a parking offence and believe it has been issued incorrectly you have the right to appeal the PCN
  • If you are dissatisfied with the level of priority you have been given when applying for a house, you have the right to appeal against the decision
  • If your planning application is refused, you will have a right to request either an appeal to Scottish Ministers or a review by the planning authority’s Local Review Body. Which one depends on the circumstances of the application and the timescale for appeal or review will normally be explained in correspondence and the decision notice from the planning authority
  • If you believe your house is incorrectly valued for council tax, you can appeal to the Assessor
• In the majority of cases, the council is also unable to deal with complaints about councillors, particularly where the complaint alleges that a councillor has breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct

Reporting a problem

Some of the most common problems raised with us are:

• Bin collection problems
• Council tax
• Housing (including repairs)
• Anti-social behaviour
• Road faults
• Noise nuisance
• Illegal dumping
• Making a comment for or against a planning application
• Abandoned vehicles
• Street lighting faults

You can find online forms for these on this site.

If you have a new problem which you need to report, please do so now using the links above. You can report all of these problems online which will ensure that your concerns are directed straight to the officers who deal with these issues.

Who can complain?

Anyone can make a complaint to us, including the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service. A representative will be required for young people under 12 years of age.

How do I complain?

You can complain in any of the following ways:

• Make a complaint online
• Phone our general enquiries line: 03451 55 00 00 (9 am-5 pm Monday to Friday)
• BT text direct for the deaf: 18001 01592 55 11 91
• Visit us at any council office and speak to a member of staff
• Fill in our complaints form, print it off and hand it in or post it to us, you don’t need a stamp. Write to us at Freepost RTBZ-BBJT-BBYC, Comments and Complaints, Fife Council, Fife House, Glenrothes, KY7 5LT
• If you are deaf and have registered for the council’s SMS text service, please send your complaint to the number given when you registered

It is easier for us to resolve complaints if you make them quickly and directly to the service concerned. So please talk to a member of our staff at the service you are complaining about. Then they can try to resolve any problems on the spot.

When you make your complaint, tell us:

• Your full name and address
• As much as you can about the complaint
• What has gone wrong
• How you want us to resolve the matter

How long do I have to make a complaint?

Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of the event you want to complain about.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, you must escalate the complaint within six months of when you first knew of the problem or within two months of our stage 1 response, whichever is later.

Again, in exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.

We are committed to making our service easy to use for all members of the community. In line with our statutory equality duties, we will always ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to help customers access and use our services. If you have trouble putting your complaint in writing or want this information in another language or format, such as large print or braille please contact us on 03451 55 55 00.