Ombudsman issues annual review of complaints for the Yorkshire and Humber region – find out more here

The ombudsman’s annual review of complaints, released today, gives a concise overview of the state of local government complaints over the past year.

The organisation upheld 63% of complaints in the region, which has decreased from 68% last year.

This year’s data also show:

○ 8% of all complaints from this region

○ Most complaints are about Children and Education - 20%, a slight decrease from 21% last year

○ Fewest complaints are about Corporate and Other Service at 6%, last year this was for complaints about Highways and Transportation, and Housing

○ Highest uphold rate is for complaints about Children and Education at 80% which has increased from 71% last year

○ Lowest uphold rate is for Benefits and Taxation, at 44%

○ The region has the joint highest proportion of its complaints about Benefits and Taxation (10% compared with England-wide average of 8%), but the joint lowest uphold rate for this category (44%, compared with 59% across the country)

In the East Riding area, the ombudsman upheld 60% of complaints it investigated (15 out of a total of 25 detailed investigations for the period between 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022).

Areas covered by the complaints incuded child protection, safeguarding, planning applications, special educational needs, charges, land, and Covid-19.

In 100% of cases the ombudsman was satisfied the council had successfully implemented its recommendations.

In 7% of upheld cases the organisation found the council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the ombudsman.

Michael King, at the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “One complaint can have immense power to change things for the better, and we’re increasingly focusing on to how we, and the local authorities we investigate, take the learning from those complaints and improve service provision.

“The vast majority of councils agree to the recommendations we make and see them as common-sense ways of providing better services for people in their area. However this can only happen when councils act swiftly when they have committed to do so.

“Unfortunately we are seeing some councils taking longer to make those changes, which put them at risk of making the same mistakes again. In 18% of cases we found compliance was late.

“While I welcome the professional way in which the majority of councils continue to work with us, I would urge those authorities who are having problems to pay close attention to this final, but crucial, step in the complaints process.”