Complaints up by 17 per cent at Rotherham Council

The complaints were made between April 2021 to March 2022 – up 17 percent from the 931 complaints made the previous year.

Of the complaints, 24 per cent were upheld, down on 26 per cent the previous year.

Eighteen were investigated by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman – double the six which were investigated the previous year.

A report to Rotherham Council’s overview and scrutiny management board staes that in contect of provisding services to 265,800 residents, “1,117 complaints are only a fraction of the number of customer interactions occurring each year”.

It adds that “this increase is due to the normalisation of council services following the Covid 19 pandemic. Complaints have begun to increase to average levels, but they are not quite as high as pre pandemic figures.

“This is the second lowest number of complaints in five years.”

The largest percentage increase was in Finance and Customer Services from 76 to 108, an increase of 30 per cent, and the highest total number of complaints was in housing services, with 501.

Of the complaints to the ombudsman, 12 complaints out of 18 investigations were upheld, equating to 67 per cent.

Four upheld complaints were in adult care, five were in childrens and young peoples services, one was in housing services and two in regeneration and environment services.

“The council continued to maintain a high level of performance and improved the quality of service offered to residents.

“The council continues to learn and improve based on the feedback received,” adds the report.