Gedling Borough Council attracted the least complaints out of all the authorities in Notts, new figures released today have revealed
Only eight formal complaints were made to the ombudsman about our local council last year. Out of the eight received, none were upheld.
The latest figures were released by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, who independently investigates complaints.
Last year, there were 302 complaints made to the ombudsman about the eight local councils in Nottinghamshire.
Of these, 39 were upheld, meaning the council was at fault.
Complaints upheld included one mum who felt she had been discriminated against by the city council after being the victim of honour-based violence, and another woman who said the county council had unfairly stopped her from seeing her adult son.
Most of the complaints were about the city council and the county council. This is in part because they are responsible for adult social care.
It showed there were 103 complaints about Nottingham City Council, and 102 about Nottinghamshire County Council.
The majority of these were not upheld. Most are dealt with by ‘local resolution’, meaning the ombudsman asks the complainant and the council to settle the matter between them.
Around 100 complaints were dismissed outright.
But 39 complaints were upheld, meaning the ombudsman found that the council was at fault.
When this happens, the ombudsman has the power to instruct councils on how to remedy the situation.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Cllr John Clarke was delighted by the news.
Cllr Clarke, who represents the Netherfield ward for Labour, said: “We’re very pleased with the ombudsman figures.
“We introduced a more thorough process to analyse the root problem of complaints and to better understand the issues affecting our residents.
“We’ve made sure we are listening to resident’s concerns and addressing their issues. It is working and we will continue to improve on these very positive results.”
The figures in full for 2017-18
Ashfield District Council – Received 15 Upheld 1
Bassetlaw District Council – Received 17 Upheld 3
Broxtowe Borough Council – Received 10 Upheld 0
Gedling Borough Council – Received 8 Upheld 0
Mansfield District Council – Received 16 Upheld 3
Newark and Sherwood District Council – Received 20 Upheld 0
Nottingham City Council – Received 103 Upheld 4
Nottinghamshire County Council – Received 102 Upheld 25
Rushcliffe Borough Council – Received 11 Upheld 3
