Making a formal complaint
We’re committed to providing a high standard of service to all and highly value your feedback. When things go wrong, we want to put them right and to learn from our mistakes.
Before going through our formal complaints’ procedure, you can report issues to a council service directly or by contacting us. This is often the quickest way to get your issue resolved.
Exceptions to our complaints policy
Some areas of the council have their own complaints processes, please get in touch with the relevant service you want to complain to:
Barnet homes complaints Challenge a parking ticket
Noise complaints Complain about a Councillor
Comment on a planning application Adult Social Care complaints
Children Social Care complaints Complain about my child's school
Resolving complaints
There are 2 stages to making a formal complaint.
Stage 1
Once we’ve received your complaint, we will send you an acknowledgement within three working days. We will investigate and you will receive a response within 10 working days.
Stage 2
If you’re not happy with how your complaint was handled at Stage 1, you may progress to stage 2. At stage 2, your complaint will be responded to within 30 working days.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)
If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) who investigates complaints about local councils. This service is independent, impartial, and free.
The ombudsman will usually only consider your complaint after you have completed all stages of our complaints process and have given us the opportunity to resolve matters for you.
For complaints from council tenants relating to housing visit the Housing Ombudsman Service website.
Make a formal complaint
Make a formal complaint online
You can also make a complaint by:
- Calling us on 020 8359 2000
- Writing to us at Barnet Council, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, London, NW9 4EW
How we use your data
We use your data for processing your complaint, this may be shared with the relevant Ombudsman or other government departments. Please see our corporate complaints privacy notice for more information.