Severe weather blamed for Scottish Borders Council complaint rise

Severe winter weather has been partly blamed for the rise in council complaints

A blast of bad weather has been blamed for a 22% rise in complaints received by Scottish Borders Council last year.

A total of 927 cases were recorded in 2017/18 compared with 759 in the previous 12 months.

The council said the number of complaints judged to be "valid" had risen by 19% - from 563 to 670.

It added that, despite the rise, the rate of complaints per 1,000 population remained "well below" the overall national average.

The council attributed the increase to severe winter weather, charging for public toilets and the inclusion of social work complaint figures for the first time.

'Valuable feedback'

Chief executive Tracey Logan said: "When we hear our services have fallen below the standards expected by our customers it is disappointing to know that we may have let down the people who matter most - our customers and communities.

"However, it is this valuable feedback that enables us to continuously review and identify where we can do things better, and we continue to ask people to play their part and provide feedback on our services, where things may have gone wrong and when exceptional services have been delivered.

"Whilst the severe winter weather contributed towards the increase in the number of complaints received last year, the efforts of our staff to support communities during this challenging time also resulted in a significant number of compliments."