Derby City Council Reviews 49

A big thank you to Katie Frost, the Project Officer at Derby City Council for organizing and taking an engineer to my mother's house to get her gas fire and boiler serviced and her gas oven capped. Katie was very quick and efficient at dealing with what had been long-term safety issues, and especially good at replying to email. Thank you very much.

Been calling all week with no one answering and I never been as frustrated as the new Ai assistant got me. Are people even working anywhere at the city council? Considering that no matter at what time of the day one calls there's no advisor available 😮‍💨.

There are numerous departments within the our Derby city council building, none of which seem to be staffed at any time throughout any working day. Yes, I've tried endless times to call Street Pride and Housing with absolutely no success whatsoever. Our council staff have, in their dubious wisdom, adopted to use a piece of ridiculous technology called, I believe, a virtual assistant that recognises nothing and is of no use whatsoever. This seems to be a ploy to frustrate callers to the point of near suicide ... and it almost achieves that. I have also taken time out to visit the reception desk, only to be told that, "Everyone works from home now". What use is that, I ask myself. We have this extremely large and rather expensive building, with no one serving the people of the city, no one answering the telephones and no one even cares that they are being paid to do nothing. This disgraceful dereliction of duty appears to be widespread, rather like a new disease and no matter (so far) how much people complain, nothing seems to change ... so far, but it will.

One of the worst and I work in the sector in a different area of the country. My disabled mum with cancer left with wall paper ripped of walls by contractor for over a year. Damp and mould everywhere. P Simpson CEO wrote to my 79 year old mum and stated it’s condensation open trickle vent which just blasting freezing cold air in.

They are shocking and it’s pot luck who you get for repairs, some good. They will attempt to wriggle out of duty of care. The smell is horrendous.

They have no care

Not worth a single star.
Contacted by adult services who left a message for me to call them back and left a phone number without a dialling code that doesn't connect.
Can't find any way of contacting the department.
Tried reception but all you get is a continuous ringing.
Nobody answers calls.
It's possibly cynical of me but I'm now getting to think the only people actually working for the council administration is those who are delegated roles to take money off you.
I cannot believe that there is a worse council in the country.
Get people back in the council house, get them doing the job they are paid for and provide the service we are paying for.

I called regarding my council tax and this girl was so rude to me, after explaining to her that I'm trying to pay my bills. She should give me till next week.
They will tell you not to be rude to their staff bit their staff is allowed to be rude to you. I'm bipolar and get triggered when people are shouting at me

The very hostile approach by security staff in this building is totally unnecessary and unacceptable. The default action by these unwanted and costly individuals is something that everyone needs to question and challenge. Whoever sanctioned these vile people to intimidate the citizens of Derby should be dismissed.

I was declared bankrupt at the end of June and was told by the financial advisor dealing with my case I was to be exempt from paying Council Tax till next April, I sent them a letter explaining this and never heard nothing back and I assumed it was all sorted. End of August they sent a letter saying I owe council tax even though I'm exempt and told them so i filled out a change of circumstances form and explaining to them I sent a letter, I'm exempt and have a form to prove this, etc. Over a month later I get a response from Lisa Spittle saying I need to send an email to the council tax with my bankruptcy form and also she stated they never recieved the letter. So I sent an email explaining for the third time, included my bankruptcy form and as of yet I have heard nothing and I sent the email on the 17th October! So Fast forward to 10 days later I get a letter saying if I don't pay by the 21st November I gotta go to court! So I sent yet another email to the council tax team and surprise surprise no response, I even emailed Lisa Spittle and no response, so it looks like this Monday I will go to court explain the situation for the fourth time, how I have had zero responses and show them the bankruptcy letter. What is even more disgusting is they are dragging my mrs into this despite her not paying council tax due to not working because of a chronic illness and in receipt of Pip, I never really had any issue with the council but now after all this and forcing me to attend court and dragging my mrs who by the way they can't spell her name right into this, they can get screwed and I really can't wait to embarrass them on Monday when I not only show the bankruptcy letter but the three emails I have sent to which I have had no response. F Derby City Council!

Received a PCN for driving in a bus lane! Due to the rail strike had to use my car to drive into Derby and followed sat nav to my destination as not familiar with the city which took me into corporation street signage was very confusing, very poor shant visit the city again as obviously a cash cow for the council

Went here yesterday wanting to hand a letter to the mental health team the people who are there to greet you are terrible they didn't want to know they were horrible

Ended up in Derby by mistake when we were forced to come off the main road. GPS then took us down a side road, trying to reroute us. Two weeks later we received a hefty fine for entering a bus lane. We didn't know the area, we were following the GPS, and we saw no signs indicating it was a bus lane as we were trying to drive safely and navigate at the same time. According to the information on the back of the fine, these reasons are just 'myths' [sic] and can't be used as a defence. To me it's just legalised theft. Won't be going back to Derby that's for sure.

I’ve been trying to pay council tax for 5 months. I can’t work out how much to pay or how to pay without phoning them but they are only open Mon- Fri when I’m at work. The web site wants a reference that I just don’t have.

On Thursday the 28th July 2022 at approximately 2.50pm, I, together with a friend from overseas, visited the city centre council building to look at the renovations and to go into the public library. As we walked through the main public atrium my friend asked me to take a photo as a souvenir of our visit. This is a very public area of architectural interest, especially to my Italian friend or in fact any visitor to the city.

So ... immediately I had taken this photo, I alone was surrounded by 6 rather menacing security guards, claiming that I could not take photographs in a "government building" and that I would be "removed if I continued". Naturally, I tried to explain that it was a public building and I can take a photo if I so wish, without being threatened, intimidated or bullied in any way. They then pointed to signs that read, "NO CAMERAS ALLOWED" ie: no photographs. Clearly, the law states that I can take a photo within all public areas in a public building and that unlawful signage relating to made up legislation or internal policy concocted by council staff was totally unenforceable. With the threat of physical harm looming, as well as their very dark escalation to what seemed like a fairly innocuous and harmless action by me, I asked to see a manager as soon as possible.
10 minutes later, I was approached by Bronia Smith-Wilson who announced herself as a manager. I explained very calmly what had taken place and reminded her that the signage in place was a violation of my very basic civil and human right (article 10) and that the dreadful approach by the security in the building was heavy-handed, disproportionate and intimidating. She then said that she had sought legal advice and I would not be permitted to take a photo and that any signs were there to be heeded and obeyed. At this point and now surrounded once again by at least 4 security staff, I was completely aghast by her arrogance, ignorance and total disregard to all that is lawful. How can we possibly trust individuals like this to manage anything on our behalf. If this was not enough, she then proceeded to tell me that, "if I had no further business in the building, she had security that would remove me, and I should leave".

Might I suggest that as many people as possible now visit our publicly accessible city council building and exercise your right to take a photo whenever you like. This level of unprofessional and unlawful behaviour by our council staff and any contracted G4S security will not and should not be tolerated.

Please note that I gave the single star rating for only one security staff member that was reasonably polite and thoughtful. I actually commended him for this.

You lot are stupid 4 times i have told you my ex doesnt live hear 4 times you have ignored me well lets see if you get message after i have rammed letter down your throats

We had an enquiry regarding buying a house . Almost 30 days no response from council .. very disappointng ...

Have recently had cause to contact Derby City Council regarding several problems and enquiries. I have been extremely impressed at their prompt response and service I have received. In these very challenging times they are delivering an excellent service.

People should be aware of what happens when you have a review or reassessment in social care in Derby.
Social services in Derby are trying not to provide care services as much as they can. They offer alternatives to provision of care which don’t exist. Example: offering a library service which did not exist for a blind customer. If you are offered an alternative when having a re assessment or review then say that you wish to check it out as realistic alternative and you can refuse any alternative if you feel it does not match or practically does not suit your disability or illness. This could be illegal and be discriminatory as it may impact the amount you get for your care, Impact your disability in a negative way.
If you need to contact an advisor contact an advocate of your choice which are available in your local area.

Atrocious! Can't get them on phone, website runs you round in circles IF you can log in. Phone sends you to website, website can't help you. Tried to make an arrangement to pay now that I'm going into IVA, won't let you, so now on my descent into insolvency I can neither contact or make arrangements to pay 4 installments to catch up, They Demand More! Thanks for stepping on my head on the way down Derby Council, your service over the last 20 years has gone from pisspoor to financial and mental assault. Still waiting for my password reset email although it accepted my original after many attempts.

Where to start with this shambles of a council...?

Firstly, they do not take care of their roads, potholes everywhere and when reported, they take forever repairing them, refuse liability when a pothole is over 2.5" deep.

Roadworks - shocking planning. They shut the roads at ridiculous times of the year and day and currently have ongoing roadworks on numerous roads that makes it difficult to get around. The A52 is a prime example of their incompetence as the project has cost more time and money than expected.

Buildings - they demolished all the old buildings of Derby, demolishing its history too. Derby could have been like York, as it has a lot of interesting historic facts about the place.

Events - most, if not all events have stopped in Derby. Cost cutting has gotten ridiculous and they've done away with things like Darley Park Concert, turned off the fountain and more.

Customer services by phone - good luck trying to find contact numbers, never mind trying to talk to them. Their opening times are Monday to Friday 09:00 to 15:00, pretty much when everyone's at work.

Online services - good luck navigating through this hell hole, not easy for computer literate people. It navigates you to irrelevant pages and is hard to work with. You can send them an email but they might reply in a month.

Hate this council, ruined the city.