Complaints about councils’ tax and benefits services up 26%

15 Jul 14
Complaints about local authorities’ tax and benefit programmes increased by more than a quarter in the year town halls introduced council tax support schemes, the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual report has revealed.

By Richard Johnstone | 15 July 2014

Complaints about local authorities’ tax and benefit programmes increased by more than a quarter in the year town halls introduced council tax support schemes, the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual report has revealed.

According to the 2013/14 annual report, there were 18,436 new complaints and enquiries specifically about local authorities, down from 18,940 in 2012/13.

However, the proportion of complaints about benefits and tax increased by 26% as local authorities introduced council tax support schemes following localisation and a 10% funding cut.

Complaints about local authority adult social care services were up 16% at a time when councils have warned of a financial crisis amid mounting demand for care.

These were also areas where the LGO was more likely to uphold complaints after detailed investigations, the Review of Local Government Complaints 2013/14 stated. Around half of complaints about both benefits (49%) and adult social care (48%) were upheld.

Ombudsman Jane Martin said she hoped the figures gave the public a better understanding of her role. The ombudsman has a duty to examine complaints about councils and other bodies such as care homes and school appeals panels, and resolves around 11,000 complaints a year.

‘We also hope the information will support better local accountability by helping people make informed choices about local public services; helping councils reflect on their complaint handling; and supporting local scrutiny.

‘It is important that the public has a clear route to redress when things go wrong. We want to work with councils to support excellent local complaint handling so that things are put right as quickly as possible.’

Responding to the review, Peter Fleming, the chair of the Local Government Association’s improvement and innovation board, said the overall fall in complaints was testament to the effort councils had made to try and protect services.

‘It is unsurprising that issues around council tax and adult social care are areas of concern for complainants as this is where there has been increasing pressure on budgets and demand for services,’ he added.

‘When government handed councils the responsibility for administering council tax support, it cut hundreds of millions in funding for it. This has left councils facing an impossible dilemma of having to ask those on lower incomes to pay more council tax or make bigger cuts to local services like filling potholes, collecting bins or caring for the elderly.’
Councils have been forced to reduce adult social care budgets by £3.5bn over the last four years, he said, while attempting to limit the impact on the essential care services that people rely on.

‘However, it is now inevitable that services will start to suffer unless there is a long-term commitment to reforming our broken adult social care funding system,’ he added.

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