REDDITCH has remained consistent in the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual review looking at complaints statistics for every local authority in the West Midlands, despite revealing a 5% increase in the area overall.
Complaints statistics for every local authority in the West Midlands region were issued as part of the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual review and the LGO received just 61 complaints for Worcestershire County Council, compared to 578 in Birmingham.
There were 14 complaints received from Redditch, with five relating to Environmental Services, Public Protection and Regulation, four relating to Benefits and Tax. three in relation to Housing, and two for Planning and Development. No complaints were made about Education and Children’s Services in the Redditch area, which according to the report saw a a 13% increase nationwide.
The report was most likely to find fault in complaints about Benefits and Tax (64%), and least likely to find fault in complaints about Highways and Transport (40%).
The Annual Review of Local Government Complaints publishes the complaint statistics of the Local Government Ombudsman, including complaints and enquiries registered against local authorities and other local bodies such as national park authorities, school admission appeal panels, fire authorities, transport authorities, and police and crime commissioners.
Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “While the number of complaints we receive is relatively small in comparison to the thousands of daily interactions between people and their councils, each complaint represents a problem that could not be resolved locally.
“I am pleased to provide more information this year about how complaints are decided and remedied. This demonstrates the impact our recommendations have for both the individual and the wider public, but also acknowledges where we agreed the local authority had remedied the complaint satisfactorily before it came to us. On the other hand, we upheld a higher proportion of detailed investigations, which may be a cause for concern if the trend continues.”
Read the full report here http://lgo.org.uk/information-centre/reports/annual-review-reports/local-government-complaint-reviews
