Ombudsman receives more than a dozen complaints and enquiries about Ashfield District Council

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is responsible for investigating wrongdoing in local public services.

If it finds the council has acted in an unfair or unjust way, the ombudsman will offer recommendations on how to make things right.

According to figures from the body, there were 17 complaints or enquiries made about Ashfield in the year to March, up from 15 the year before.

However, ombudsman Michael King ultimately did not ‘uphold’ any complaints made against the council last year – meaning it did not find the council to be in the wrong.

Coun Sarah Madigan (Ash Ind), council executive lead member for customer services and strategic planning, said: “We’re pleased that of the complaints made, the council was cleared all cases.

“The council is committed to providing excellent public services. We do take any complaint seriously and the fact not one has been upheld by the ombudsman shows we are doing well.

“Our environment team works extremely hard and diligently; during the pandemic, Ashfield Council was the only council to have maintained a full bin collection service.

"In fact, our team enhanced them.”

The most common reason for coming to the ombudsman in Ashfield was for issues related to environmental services, with eight complaints or enquiries.

Mr King said: “One complaint can have immense power to change things for the better.

“The majority of councils agree to the recommendations we make and see them as common-sense ways of providing better services for people in their area."

Across England, councils were found to have acted unjustly on 2,678 occasions, a 27 per cent increase on 2,104 the year before.

He said, while councils act on nearly every recommendation they are given, uptake can be slow, with one in five failing to take them on within the timeframe set out by the ombudsman.

Nationally, the number of complaints rose compared with last year, with 15,826 in the year to March, up 25 per cent from 11,830 last year, but did not quite reach the 17,019 recorded in 2019-20.

Problems with education and children’s services were the most common reason to get in touch with the organisation, with 3,145 complaints and enquiries, while there were more than 2,000 each for planning and development, adult social care, and housing.

The number of issues raised about the sector rose from 1,670 in 2020-21 to 2,139 in the year to March.

The Local Government Association, meanwhile, praised councils for the work they are doing in tricky circumstances.

Peter Fleming, LGA improvement and innovation board chairman, said: “Councils continue to deliver the crucial services communities rely on, while also managing the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the challenges it brings to their areas.

“It is positive that in 99.7 per cent of case councils are implementing recommendations made, showing local authorities are determined to make sure these issues do not occur again.”