Coucil would not book my citizenship ceremony

[lambada2019]

My citizenship application has been approved by Home Office. I received a letter explaining the process and the fact that citizenship ceremony is required, and that I have a limited time to book one in my council (21 days).

Next working day, I called the phone number printed in the letter. Polite receptionist in the registrars office of my council (Royal Greenwich) simply refused to book the appointment, saying they will call me back instead (when they are ready to make the booking). It seems an unreasonable hustle for such a simple things as making a booking but OK.

Well, it would be OK, except they never called me back.
I chased it up and submitted a complaint but was told that they may call me back in a week or two and I should just wait for a call some day.

Time already wasted chasing my council plus delay between the date Home Office printed the letter and when it was actually delivered to my address (10 days), plus 1-2 weeks, means my lovely council will almost certainly not book the appointment until the deadline.

Is there something I can do about it? (The complaint I submitted to my council over the phone had no effect whatsoever)
Can I have the ceremony in another council? Is this common across the UK and many other councils play these cat-and-mouse games? (If that is common, perhaps someone knows a council with functioning registrars - I am happy to travel to a distant council if that is the only way)

I feel like the situation is unnecessary frustrating. On one hand Home Office puts a deadline (perhaps not expecting that some local councils are pretty dysfunctional), on the other hand my council could not be bothered to even book the thing they are required to organise by law.
All of this is very disappointing.

[CULLINAN]

My citizenship application has been approved by Home Office. I received a letter explaining the process and the fact that citizenship ceremony is required, and that I have a limited time to book one in my council (21 days).

Next working day, I called the phone number printed in the letter. Polite receptionist in the registrars office of my council (Royal Greenwich) simply refused to book the appointment, saying they will call me back instead (when they are ready to make the booking). It seems an unreasonable hustle for such a simple things as making a booking but OK.

Well, it would be OK, except they never called me back.
I chased it up and submitted a complaint but was told that they may call me back in a week or two and I should just wait for a call some day.

Time already wasted chasing my council plus delay between the date Home Office printed the letter and when it was actually delivered to my address (10 days), plus 1-2 weeks, means my lovely council will almost certainly not book the appointment until the deadline.

Is there something I can do about it? (The complaint I submitted to my council over the phone had no effect whatsoever)
Can I have the ceremony in another council? Is this common across the UK and many other councils play these cat-and-mouse games? (If that is common, perhaps someone knows a council with functioning registrars - I am happy to travel to a distant council if that is the only way)

I feel like the situation is unnecessary frustrating. On one hand Home Office puts a deadline (perhaps not expecting that some local councils are pretty dysfunctional), on the other hand my council could not be bothered to even book the thing they are required to organise by law.
All of this is very disappointing.

Did you try calling back and perhaps speak to some other person or maybe manager?

[CULLINAN]

british-citizenship/21-days-to-book-cer ... 07844.html

If you search the forum you will get more threads on this topic.

I would say you should go to the council in person and get it done.

[Zerubbabel]

When I got my letter, I also chased my council on the phone for 10 days without any success. I was about to go to another council. Then, I decided to drive there and have a chat with them.

The lady at the reception told me nicely that their office is small, understaffed and actually the person who deals with this appointments is there only 2 afternoons a week. That's why nobody was picking up the phone.

She showed me the calendar, offered a date or two (I went private) then they called me next day to confirm the chosen date and everything went smoothly.

If I can recommend anything, is to go there and talk to them face to face. You are just wasting your time on the phone.

[guru1s]

Next working day, I called the phone number printed in the letter. Polite receptionist in the registrars office of my council (Royal Greenwich) simply refused to book the appointment, saying they will call me back instead (when they are ready to make the booking). It seems an unreasonable hustle for such a simple things as making a booking but OK.

I had a similar situation, I have called numerous times and have been promised to get a callback.

One day I just went there and refused to leave until someone arranged the ceremony. An hour later I saw a person who booked me in.

[zimba]

As others have pointed out many smaller councils might not have many applicants and only hold ceremonies few times a year. They also cannot book you in unless they got your certificate sent by home office which could take a while. Go in person and sort it out