South East families make most education complaints

The local government ombudsman says 35% of its complaints from the South East were about education

Families in the South East are the most likely to make complaints about education and children's services provided by their local authority.

That is according to the Local Government Ombudsman's annual report.

It said that area made up 35% of the enquiries it received from people in the region, compared to an average of 27% across the country.

In Surrey 141 complaints across all areas of government were upheld, in Kent 76, West Sussex saw 36 decisions upheld, East Sussex 28 and Medway 16.

The ombudsman said many councils did not comply with its recommendations in good time, with one in five missing deadlines to correct mistakes.

Amerdeep Somal, local government and social care ombudsman, said: “What we’re seeing in the majority of cases isn’t a lack of care or an inability to take responsibility for what has gone wrong, but a sector struggling to cope.

“Almost all councils want to comply with our recommendations, accept responsibility when things go wrong, and provide good services to residents, and our 99.5% compliance rate indicates this is the case.

"But all too often resources and finances prevent them from doing so as swiftly as they should."

Eighty per cent of the total complaints received were upheld, up six per cent from the previous year.

A interactive map has been created showing statistics for each local council's performance.

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.