More than 1,000 complaints recorded by two councils ‘should not be viewed as a negative’, a councillor said.
Yesterday morning, members of Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils met to discuss their annual complaints report, outlining performance during the 2023/24 financial year.
The report showed a 25 per cent increase in total complaints, with 1,205 recorded in 2023/24, up from 959 the previous year and 841 in 2021/22 — the majority of these complaints, at 72 per cent, related to housing.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk council recorded 1,205 complaints recorded in 2023/24, the majority to do with housing. Picture: Joao Santos
The figures included stage one and two complaints, handled in-house by the councils’ officers, and are well above the average sector number for complaints per 1,000 homes.
But Cllr Alastair McCraw, Babergh’s lead for performance and resilience, said the extra complaints ‘should not be viewed as a negative’.
He said: “I’ve worked in customer service all my life and complaints are needed because you need to know where things are wrong because you can’t fix them otherwise — you need to know what to do.
Cllr Alastair McCraw, Babergh’s lead for performance and resilience, said the extra complaints should not be viewed as a negative. Picture: Babergh District Council
“We need people to provide feedback and, accordingly, we’ve made it much easier to do so. Unsurprisingly, we are receiving a higher number of complaints because people can find where to go quicker.”
A digital system was launched in 2020 to make it easier for residents to log complaints, which councillors said was still leading to an increase in reports.
Other reasons behind the increase included the housing ombudsman code introduced in 2022 and made statutory last year, which ensured easy access to registering complaints and getting early help, as well as the councils’ efforts to make changes to meet the regulator’s standards.
Total complaints over time for Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils. Picture: Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Despite this, Cllr McCraw and officers confirmed there had been a reduction over the last quarter, with the situation ‘vastly improving’.
The latest data, which covered the first and second quarters of 2024, between April and September, however, showed an upward trend, with 622 stage one complaints — these were also attributed to a new complaints system.
A further report outlining performance over the third quarter of 2024 is expected to be discussed by cabinet members of both councils by March 11.