Complaints about handling of benefits and tax by England’s councils rose by over a quarter last year, figures have revealed.
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) said disputes and enquires about these issues rose by 26% in 2013/14, while complaints about local authority adult social care increased by 16%.
Council chiefs said such rises were ‘unsurprising’ given growing budgetary pressures and service demand.
Benefits, tax and adult social care were also the areas where the LGO was most likely to uphold complaints after detailed investigations.
Further findings from the research revealed 55% of people found it easy to find information about how to make a complaint about their town hall.
Some 56% of people questioned by the LGO did not remember being made aware of their council’s complaint handling procedures, while 43% were not advised that they could refer their complaint to the LGO.
Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: ‘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. Our research highlights areas where improvements could be made to ensure the complainant’s journey runs as smoothly as possible.’
Responding to the report, Cllr Peter Fleming, chair of the Local Government Association's Improvement and Innovation Board, said: ‘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.
‘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 also been forced to reduce adult social care budgets by £3.5bn over the last four years but have managed to limit the impact on the essential care services that people rely on.’
