Sharp fall in complaints about council services

A report said the fall was partly down to improved training

Complaints about Warwickshire County Council's services fell sharply in the last year, with 40% fewer than in the previous 12 months.

A report to councillors said the number fell from 1520 in 2023-24, to 869 in the 12 months to April.

The fall has been put down to better staff training in handling contacts from members of the public.

A new complaints process has also been in place at the authority for about 18 months.

Wednesday's meeting of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be told more customer contacts are now being classified as comments rather than complaints. But the overall total for both is still significantly fewer.

There was also a rise in compliments about council services.

The report said that the new comments system had given managers "richer data" about how their services were perceived, enabling them to identify patterns in complaints and comments and use them to improve.