Stockport Council: Urgent review call over complaint handling

Labour said it was working hard to address the issue

A rise in the number of complaints against Stockport Council being upheld by the government's ombudsman has sparked calls for an "urgent review".

The Liberal Democrats want bosses at the Labour-run authority to look again at how they handle grievances.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reports 27 out of 119 complaints reviewed by the ombudsman have been upheld over the last three years.

Labour said "local and national" factors were to blame for the increase.

'Something very wrong'

The figures contrast unfavourably with the previous three years when the Lib Dems were at the helm, said the leader of the party, councillor Mark Hunter.

He said only 11 out of 101 complaints were upheld then, meaning the proportion of justified complaints has doubled since Labour took charge and showed a "worrying trend" of not just more complaints to the ombudsman but "significantly - many more being upheld". 

"Going to the ombudsman is often the final sanction a resident can take [and] for the council to be losing so many of these cases suggests something is very wrong."

He accused the Labour group of being "asleep at the wheel" and demanded an "urgent review" of how complaints were dealt with by Stockport Council.

'National trend'

The council was already working hard to address the issue, said Labour councillor Kate Butler, cabinet member for citizen focus and engagement.

"Factors both locally and nationally are at play here. The national picture shows the ombudsman generally upholding more complaints than in previous years," she said.

"We are improving the way people access our adult social care services by streamlining the process, making it quicker and easier for them to get the help they need."

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman issued a public report last year after finding Stockport Council had incorrectly declined parking permits to town centre residents.