Complaints data for councils in the West Midlands for 2023-24 have been released by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
It forms part of the Ombudsman’s annual release of statistics on the complaints it receives and investigates about all local authorities in England for the previous 12 months.
In the West Midlands:
- 9.7% of complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman were from this region.
- the 1,693 complaints received equated to 28.1 complaints per 100,000 residents, below the average across all regions of 30.6, but the fourth highest behind London (47.2), South West (31.1) and South East (29.8).
- 28% of complaints and enquiries received were about Children and Education, roughly in line with the average for all regions (27%). The 7.7 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category stood below the average for all regions of 8.2.
- 16% of complaints and enquiries received were about Housing, again roughly in line with the average for all regions of 17%. The 4.5 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category stood below the average for all regions of 5.2 but was the second highest behind London (16.1 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents).
- 13% of complaints and enquiries received were about Adult Care Services. This was lower than the average for all regions (14%). The 3.7 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category stood below the average for all regions of 4.4 and was combined lowest of all the regions, together with the Eastern region and East Midlands.
- The overall uphold rate for the region stood at 79%, below the average of 80% for all regions.
- A total of 328 upheld decisions equated to 5.4 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents, just below the average of 5.6 for all regions and the fourth highest behind London (8.2), South West (6.8) and South East (6.3).
- The uphold rate stood at 88% for Education & Children’s Services (105 upheld decisions). For Adult Care Services the uphold rate stood at 85% (72 upheld decisions), higher than the average of 80% across all regions.
For the first time nationally, the Ombudsman is having to report its concerns about the way councils are failing to comply with the recommendations it makes in good time, with more than one in five complaints being remedied late.
Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:
“On a national level, what we’re seeing in the majority of cases isn’t a lack of care or an inability to take responsibility for what has gone wrong, but a sector struggling to cope.
“Almost all councils want to comply with our recommendations, accept responsibility when things go wrong, and provide good services to residents, and our 99.5% compliance rate indicates this is the case. But all too often resources and finances prevent them from doing so as swiftly as they should.
“However, there are a small number of councils that seem unwilling to respond to our investigations as we expect them to, and we have had to tell those councils that we will issue a witness summons for them to provide information that should otherwise be forthcoming.
“Regardless of the reason for the delays in responding, the impact is the same on the people at the centre of the complaints and councils risk losing the opportunity to restore faith when things have gone wrong.
“I urge those few councils that do not engage fully in the process to get on board to benefit their local residents. The service improvement recommendations we make are practical steps that should be in the gift of local authorities to put in place. If councils are unable to implement them in the timescales we require, they should let us know before they agree to them.”
The Ombudsman’s annual report on local government complaints gives a picture of the health of the sector across England. This year across the country the Ombudsman has upheld 80 per cent of all complaints it has investigated – rising from 74 per cent the previous year.
The highest area of complaint across the Ombudsman’s casework remains complaints about poor services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This area now dominates its casework, making up 26% of all complaints the service received in the period and 42% of all upheld complaints. The Ombudsman found fault in 92% of the education cases it investigated and the numbers are increasing rapidly.
Another key area was Adult Social Care Services, which made up 14% of the Ombudsman’s casework; 80% of investigated complaints were upheld.
Complaints about housing and homelessness made up a further 16% of casework, with 84% of investigations upheld – a situation particularly acute in London.
Statistics for each council have been uploaded to the Ombudsman’s Your Council’s Performance interactive map, which allows people to compare their council’s statistics against the averages for various types of council as well as read the Ombudsman’s letter accompanying the data.