THE number of complaints received and upheld against St Helens Council by the local government Ombudsman has been revealed.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about all local authorities and social care providers in England.

Every year it publishes the information it sends to councils to help with transparency and improve local services for residents.

In 2017-18, for the year ending March 31, the Ombudsman received 45 complaints against St Helens Council.

The complaints related to adult care services (14), education and children’s services (10), planning and development (7), highways and transport (6), environment servicers (3), benefits and tax (3), housing (1) and other (1).

In total, eight were upheld by the Ombudsman and seven were not upheld.

Advice was given on two decisions, 15 were sent back to the council for a local resolution, 10 were closed after initial enquires and three were incomplete or invalid.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman chairman, said in his letter to the council that the volume of complaints does not, in itself, indicate the quality of the authority’s performance.

“High volumes of complaints can be a sign of an open, learning organisation, as well as sometimes being an early warning of wider problems,” he wrote.

“Low complaint volumes can be a worrying sign that an organisation is not alive to user feedback, rather than always being an indicator that all is well.

“So, I would encourage you to use these figures as the start of a conversation, rather than an absolute measure of corporate health.

“One of the most significant statistics attached is the number of upheld complaints.

“This shows how frequently we find fault with the council when we investigate.

“Equally importantly, we also give a figure for the number of cases where we decided your authority had offered a satisfactory remedy during the local complaints process.

“Both figures provide important insights.”

A spokesman for the council said ‘unprecedented challenges caused by significant budget reductions’ has affected its ability to meet expectations.

“The council serves just under 180,000 residents, providing thousands of service contacts on a weekly basis,” the spokesman said.

“However, in light of unprecedented challenges caused by significant budget reductions – we’re finding it harder to continue to meet expectations which could impact on the scope for and level of complaints.

“When a complaint does happen, we act promptly to try to ensure that we meet the Ombudsman’s recommendations whenever possible.”

The Ombudsman’s annual review of local government complaints shows that it received 17,452 complaints and enquiries about local government in 2017-18, compared with 16,863 in the previous year.

The proportion of complaints it has upheld has also increased to 57 per cent – up from 54 per cent the previous year.

It also made 21 per cent more recommendations for service improvements this year.

In addition, recommendations to remedy personal injustice increased from 2,428 to 2,566.

Reflecting on the annual summary, Mr King said: “The raw data included in our report can only tell a part of the story – the wider outcomes from the complaints we receive are far more important than the numbers.

“For a long time, we’ve been pressing just how important complaints can be as a learning tool for local authorities – and a great source of free feedback about the health of the services they provide.

“We know being on the receiving end of an upheld complaint can be a tough pill to swallow, particularly in these difficult times.

“But this year, we’ve seen some really positive examples of councils taking on board our recommendations, making root and branch reviews of their services and putting in place changes that will help many more than just the person who originally came to us.

“Over the coming year I hope even more councils will take on a more mature and positive reflection of the data we provide, their annual letters and the many focus reports and public interest reports we issue and use these tools to scrutinise where their own services might be improved.”