Our customer offer - contacting council services
Find out how to contact the council online, by phone or face to face and how to use our online services if you don’t have access to the internet.
How to contact us
We’re committed to providing you with good customer service in line with our Customer Promise.
We understand that customer needs vary and not everyone can access our services in the same way. Therefore, we provide 3 different ways you can contact us:
Contact us:
- online
- by phone
- face to face
These have been challenging times for local authorities, and we need to ensure our limited resources are best placed to meet your needs. By focusing on customer needs, rather than preferences, we can make sure everyone gets fair access to council services.
Therefore, we ask you to contact us online if you can. This allows us to help other customers who may need additional support.
Contact us online
Website
The best way to contact us is through the Brighton & Hove City Council website.
You can complete our self-service forms which go straight to the service you need.
Those services who don’t have online forms will have email addresses for you to contact them.
We aim to respond to online contact within 10 working days. At busier times or for more complex enquiries, we aim to let you know how long you may have to wait.
Use our computers to contact council services
You can use the computers in our:
You will need to be a library member to use these computers.
Sign up if you're not already a member or speak to our staff to get support to sign up.
Build your digital skills
Find services to help you use a computer or another digital device and improve your online skills.
Contact us by phone
If you find it difficult to contact us online, you can phone the service you need.
Our phone numbers are listed on the relevant service pages on our website.
Our main phone lines are open at a minimum from 9:30am to 1:30pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays,).
These opening times allow our staff time to process and respond to the phone enquiries as well as the digital enquiries received from online forms and emails.
Some services have longer opening hours. These are published on our website and on the recorded message of the specific phone line you are calling.
We aim to answer your call within an average of 10 minutes. We aim to let you know if wait times exceed 10 minutes.
Council switchboard
You can also phone our switchboard between 9:30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Phone 01273 29 00 00 if you:
- don’t know which council service you need to contact
- can’t find contact details for the service you need on our website.
Switchboard staff will help you with basic queries and signpost you to the correct service.
Use our phones to contact council services
We have free self-help phones that you can use to contact council services in our:
Face-to-face support
Prebooked appointments with services
Services offer face to face appointments on a case-by-case basis where your query could not be resolved online or over the phone. This is to ensure everyone can contact and access our services.
We'll let you know the location of your appointment. When you arrive, report to the reception area.
Visit us in person
Council Help Desk
If you don’t have access to a computer or phone or you need additional help to access our services, visit us in one of the following locations.
- Jubilee Library
- Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE
Visit our Council Help Desk at Jubilee Library to access self-help phones and computers or to get additional support to access council services.
- Hove Library
- Hove Library, 182 to 186 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2EG
Visit our Council Help Desk at Hove Library to access self-help phones and computers or to get additional support to access council services.
- Best Start Family Hub Hangleton website
- Best Start Family Hub Hangleton, Harmsworth Crescent, Hove, BN3 8BW
Visit Best Start Family Hub Hangleton to get support for families in Brighton & Hove and find out how to access council services.
- Best Start Family Hub Moulsecoomb, Hodshrove Lane, Brighton, BN2 4SE
Visit Best Start Family Hub Moulsecoomb to get support for families in Brighton & Hove and find out how to access council services.
- Best Start Family Hub Tarner, Ivory Place, Brighton, BN2 9QE
Visit Best Start Family Hub Tarner to get support for families in Brighton & Hove and find out how to access council services.
- Best Start Family Hub Whitehawk, 178 Whitehawk Rd, Brighton, BN2 5FL
Visit Best Start Family Hub Whitehawk to get support for families in Brighton & Hove and find out how to access council services.
Housing Advice and Homelessness Help Desk
- Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, BN3 3BQ
Visit the Housing Advice and Homelessness Help Desk at Hove Town Hall to get support from Housing Officers.
Council buildings and reception points
Some services have buildings with reception points. Service provision is based on customer need and we regularly review and adapt it as appropriate for relevant services.
Face to face appointments in the community
Some staff, like social workers and environmental health staff carry out in person visits, inspections and appointments. These are arranged by the service and based on customer needs.
Feedback on our council services
We welcome feedback on how you access and use our services. We use this feedback to drive continuous improvement across our services.
Complete our customer satisfaction survey to give us feedback on your experience of council services.
You can get a paper copy of the survey at our council help desks.
You can also:
- send us a compliment about a council service
- find out how to make a complaint if you have tried reporting a problem and it has not been resolved by the council service