A council has been told to ‘urgently’ improve its handling of complaints from the public.

The Local Government Ombudsman’s annual review said Staffordshire CC had ‘fallen below the standards we expect’.

In a letter to the council, Ombudsman Michael King wrote: ‘I ask that you urgently consider your council’s approach to all aspects of its complaint handling, prioritising good standards of administrative practice, and seeking to improve the process and outcomes for people who complain to you.’

Mr King said ‘complaint functions have been under-resourced in recent years’ in the sector, but that Staffordshire should ‘consider how your organisation prioritises complaints, particularly in terms of capacity and visibility’.

The watchdog has dealt with 29 cases regarding Staffordshire in the past year, with three resulting in public reports.

Mr King said it was ‘disappointing’ the council’s responses were late in 80% of cases and remedies were not completed within agreed timescales in almost half.

He added he had raised concerns about late remedies with Staffordshire for the past three years.

Responding to the ombudsman’s findings, Staffordshire’s cabinet member Mark Sutton said: ‘We have many thousands of interactions with the public every year - the vast majority of which are successful.

‘The quality of our work has remained steady but I accept that the speed with which some of the more complex cases are reviewed has slipped and we are working to improve that.’

This article was originally published by The MJ (£).