Main contact details

Online services

We encourage residents to use our 24-hour online services. You can easily pay, apply or report an issue online. This is often the quickest and easiest way to complete a task.

Address

Opening hours

Our offices are open:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am to 5pm
Wednesday, 10.15am to 5pm

Telephone number

For general enquiries, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, call 0118 937 3787.

For emergencies outside of these hours, call 0118 937 3737.

Contact numbers for our services are listed below.

If you have hearing or speech difficulties or you need assistance in getting in touch with council services, you can use the free Text Relay service to make a text relay call. You need to dial 18001 followed by the telephone number of the person/council service you are calling. To use text relay on a smartphone or computer you need to download the free app from www.relayuk.bt.com or from a marketplace such as Google Play or the App Store.

Customer care

What you can expect from us

We aim to:

  • answer 80% of our telephone calls – please note, due to high demand callers may experience longer wait times during peak periods (9am – 10am, Noon to 2pm on Mon to Fri)
  • see you within 15 minutes of arriving in reception
  • acknowledge social media messages within 2 hours
  • resolve your request with your first contact – if possible
  • respond to complaints/requests in line with the policy

We can arrange private meetings if necessary.

What we expect from you

You should:

  • tell us about any changes in your circumstances as soon as possible
  • treat our staff with dignity and respect

We have developed a persistent complainants policy  to deal with people who make unreasonable demands on our services.

To help us process your enquiry, please ensure you provide us with full contact details such as your email address, phone number and residential address.

How to contact our services

Adult Social Care

Building control

Child Protection

Council house rents

0118 937 2784 for rents
0118 937 2863 for the court team
0118 937 2369 for former or recharge accounts

Council House Repairs

0800 318 296 (0118 937 3757 from a mobile)

Council Tax and Business Rates

0118 937 3727

Electoral Registration

0118 937 3717

Environmental Health

Food and safety, private sector housing, environmental protection including pollution, statutory nuisance & animal welfare.

0118 937 3787

Family Information Service

Highways

0118 937 3787

Housing Enquiries

0118 937 3757

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support

Phone: 0118 937 3707 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)

Leisure

Our leisure partner Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) now operates Reading’s leisure services on the Council’s behalf. Visit:

customerservices@gll.org

Libraries

Opening hours vary – full branch information Central Library: 0118 9015950 Caversham Library: 0118 9015103 Battle Library: 0118 9015100 Tilehurst Library: 0118 9015112 Palmer Park Library: 0118 9015106 Southcote Library: 0118 9015109 Whitley Library: 0118 9015115

Licensing

licensing@reading.gov.uk

Media and communications

If you are a journalist looking to contact the media team or looking for the latest press releases visit our media centre.

Parking Services

0118 937 3767

Pest Control

0118 937 3787

Planning

0118 937 3787

Racial Harassment

0118 937 3787

Reading Play

0118 937 2632

Registry Office

0118 937 3533

School Admissions

0118 937 3777

Streetscene Services

0118 937 3787

Waste and Recycling Collections

0118 937 3787

Last updated on 07/03/2025