Make a complaint to the council

Stage 2 - Appeal 

To be considered for an appeal, you need to have submitted a Stage 1 complaint and received our response. You then have 28 days to submit a Stage 2 appeal in writing. Send it to Guildford Borough Council, Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford, GU2 4BB.

A Stage 2 appeal must meet any of the following criteria: 

• we made our decision based on inaccurate facts that could change our decision 
• you have new and relevant information that was not previously available and which might change our decision 
• we overlooked or misunderstood parts of your complaint or did not take account of relevant information which could change our decision

What happens after I make an appeal?

For Stage 2 appeals we will aim to: 

• acknowledge the appeal request within three working days  
• fully investigate and respond to the accepted appeal within 20 days
• where it is not possible to respond within the 20 day period, due to the complexity of a complaint or due to the absence of a key officer or another specific reason, we will contact you to let you know when you can expect a reply
• you will always be notified of any changes to the standard response target

If you are not happy with the response to your Stage 2 appeal, you can refer it to the relevant ombudsman service. 

Stage 3 - Send your complaint to Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman or Housing Ombudsman 

We hope we can sort out any problems quickly and successfully. There will be occasions where we will not be able to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction.  If this is the case, you can contact the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). If the complaint is housing-related, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman (HO).

The LGSCO and HO will not normally consider a complaint until it has been through our full complaints procedure outlined above.