City Hall’s delight as number of complaints fall

7:20pm Friday 18th July 2008

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The number of official complaints about Bradford Council services has fallen by nearly a quarter over the past year.

Figures released by the Local Government Ombudsman show there were 83 complaints against the Council in 2007-08 compared to 112 the previous year – a “significant” reduction of 24 per cent.

Of particular note is the drop in the complaints about planning and building control matters which nearly halved over the period. Planning matters remain the largest category of all complaints.

In an annual letter published on the Council’s performance, Anne Seex, the Local Government Ombudsman, said of the reduction: “The Council will, I am sure, take some comfort from this.

“I draw no conclusions from this reduction in the number of complaints received.”

She also details the one public report issued on the Council last year, which was in June.

The local government watchdog criticised the Council’s handling of a planning application.

The complaint relates to permission given to two neighbours to extend their homes. Both were subject to conditions requiring obscure glazing. One of the applicants asked for the condition to be lifted. In their case the Council tried to do this by making a minor amendment to a decision notice, something they have no power to do. On top of this the complainants were not consulted.

The Ombudsman found that injustice had been caused by maladministration by the Council and ordered it to pay £600 to the complainants for their time and distress.

The annual letter went on to say: “As with last year I am happy to report that no issues have arisen during the year to suggest that there are any problems with the way in which the Council handles complaints made to it by the public.”

The Council also improved its response time on the previous year with 30.9 being the average number of days taken to respond to first inquiries – two days quicker than before.

Tony Reeves, chief executive of the Council, said: “We are delighted with the findings of the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual letter.

“This reflects the hard work of many of our staff in handling difficult issues and striving to find the best possible solutions to any complaints made to the Local Government Ombudsman about the local authority.”

The complaints were as follows: * adult care services – four * benefits – three * children and family services – eight * education – eight * housing – six * others – 14 * planning and building control – 25 * public finance – five * social services – none * transport and highways – ten