Barnsley Council puts customers right at the heart of everything we do, improving their access to council services and being responsive to their needs. We have developed a set of Service Standards so that customers know what to expect and how to tell us if we are not delivering what we have promised.
We aim to give an excellent service every time and be consistent in our approach. We have published our Customer Charter clearly saying what we will do and how you can help us. We have a range of access methods for contacting services that provide convenient and effective ways of contacting the Council.
We value your comments, compliments and complaints about how we run our services. If you wish to provide us with any comments you have about a service, please help us make improvements by giving us your feedback via any of the channels listed below.
Online
You can contact us using by completing our contact us form. Alternatively, you may wish to comment specifically about our website, in which case you can use our website feedback form.
Individiual email addresses for specific council services are advertised on the web pages about those services, however, there is a single council email address for general enquiries of online@barnsley.gov.uk.
By telephone
Barnsley Council recognises that a majority of customers contact council services by telephone and they expect a polite and professional quick response. We aim to ensure that telephones are answered in a welcoming way and calls are dealt with in a consistent and informative manner to give a positive and professional impression of the council and its employees.
The Council's main switchboard is open 8.00am - 6.00pm Monday to Friday and can be contacted on 01226 770770.
A list of individual service contact numbers and emergency numbers is available as a PDF format file.
Mini Com
The Mini com system is a small specialised computer that enables people who are deaf or hard of hearing to make telephone calls. A Mini com (text phone) has a keyboard with a small screen that allows the user to type and read calls via an ordinary telephone line. This will allow customers of the council to contact us directly without assistance. The number for the Barnsley Council Mini Com service is 01226 772772. Advisors will assist where possible, arrange for a response from the council or direct the customer to the appropriate service.
Text Relay (formerly Type Talk)
Royal National Institute for the Deaf and hard of hearing people (RNID) operate a national telephone relay service known as RNID Text Relay. The service is for deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, deafblind and speech-impaired people and it allows them, using a textphone, to access any services that are available on standard telephone system.
RNID Text Relay provides a link between any textphone user and highly trained operator who provides a discreet and confidential service. If you are deaf, all you need is a textphone, which is a specially adapted telephone with a keyboard.
If you would like to use the service you should dial 18001 then 01226 followed by the full telephone number of the service you require from your textphone. The call will be answered by an RNID Text Relay operator who is brought into the call. They will then assist you with your call and act as a communicator for the service required. This service is funded by BT and calls are charged at the local rate.
The textphone user will then type their part of the conversation. The RNID Text Relay operator will read exactly what is typed to the hearing person who will then reply and the RNID Text Relay operator will type exactly what is said so the textphone user can read the response on their display panel.
Barnsley Connects service centres
Our front of house is delivered through our Barnsley Connects service centres which are located throughout the Barnsley area with opening times of Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm. In those service centres, all of our front line advisors wear a uniform and an identity badge, greeting customers in a welcoming manner, and advising them of the current waiting times to see an advisor. Where the customer needs to be referred to a specialist officer, they will be informed of the time and venue for a subsequent appointment.
Letters & faxes
The central postal address for correspondence is:
Barnsley MBC
Corporate Mail Room
PO Box 634
BARNSLEY
S70 9GG
The fax number is 01226 773099.
You may also be interested in the location of the Town Hall which can be found on our map of Barnsley Town Centre. The postcode of the Town Hall is S70 2TA.
Invoice address
Please send any invoices to the appropreate recipiant at PO BOX 522.
Reasons you might want to contact us
You can contact us using any of the methods listed above, but if your wish to make a media enquiry, provide feedback about our website, or make a complaint, we may be able to help more quickly if you follow these specific routes:
Media enquiries
Journalists are requested not to contact individual departments. Please contact Corporate Communications, who will be pleased to assist you and, where appropriate, will arrange for an appropriate spokesperson to be made available to you.
Please contact Corporate Communications on 01226 773442 or 01226 773375. Alternatively, email pressoffice@barnsley.gov.uk
Website feedback
We are interested in any comments or feedback you may have about our website, all of which can be submitted using our website feedback form. You may wish to comment about the layout, ease of use, design of our site, or give us detailed comments about specific pages or content. We would particularly like to hear from you if you’ve spotted an error which needs correction - quoting the relevant page address will help us to pinpoint the error (eg the web address found in the toolbar at the top of the webpage) and we appreciate any feedback you are able to provide. If you wish to make a complaint, please follow the guidance under the complaints heading below, opting for "The council".
Complaints
All complaints are treated confidentially and you will receive acknowledgement confirming receipt of the complaint and who is the investigating officer.
Complaints can be directed to:
- Adult Social Services - where your complaint relates to an adult care issue
- Schools - where your complaint is about a school
- The council - for complaints about council services
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