COMPLAINTS about education and children's services are still dominating the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s casework in the South West, according to its annual review of local government complaints.

Published today, Wednesday, July 16, the review shows a continued increase in the Ombudsman’s caseload nationally, with a record number of complaints received, exceeding 20,000 for the first time.

In-depth data analysis for the South West showed that ten per cent of complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman were from this region.

The 1,934 complaints received equated to 33.3 complaints per 100,000 residents, the third highest of all the regions, behind London (57.9) and the South East (33.4).

A total of 33 per cent of complaints and enquiries received were about Children and Education, significantly above the average for all regions of 28 per cent.

This was equivalent to 10.9 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category, which was the third highest of all regions, behind Eastern (12.1) and the South East (12.0) and well above the average of 9.8.

Other findings include:

• 12% of complaints and enquiries received were about Planning & Development, the highest percentage share of all the regions and well above the average of 8%.

• 8% of complaints and enquiries received were about Housing, significantly below the average of 18% for all regions. The 2.8 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category stood well below the average for all regions of 6.3, higher only than the North East (1.8), Yorkshire and the Humber (2.5) and the North West (2.5).

• 14% of complaints and enquiries received were about Adult Care Services, in line with the regional average. The 4.7 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents stood just below the average of 4.8 for all regions.

• The overall uphold rate for the region stood at 84%, just above the average of 83% for all regions.

• A total of 409 upheld decisions equated to 7.0 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents, above the average of 6.1 for all regions and ranking third behind London (9.1) and Eastern (7.5).

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: ‘Sitting at the apex of the complaint system for English local authorities, the complaints we receive – and the faults we find – can act as a bellwether for the state of local services across the country.

‘We are receiving a higher number of complaints year-on-year and upholding those complaints in greater numbers.

‘This reflects how systemic some of the issues across local government are.

‘I appreciate national pressures in the key areas of Special Educational Needs, availability of housing and adult care are putting enormous strain on local authorities, but we still hold them accountable to the law and guidance and the high standards people expect from their local services.

‘We are finding more fault, but I welcome their overwhelming compliance with the recommendations we make’.

On a national level, 83 per cent of all Ombudsman investigations carried out were upheld and compliance with recommendations remained high at 99.7 per cent.

Across the country, Education and Children’s Services made up 27 per cent of the Ombudsman’s caseload and 47 per cent of all upheld investigations. The Ombudsman found fault in 91 per cent of all Education and Children’s complaints, and 94 per cent of cases involving special educational needs provision.

Housing cases accounted for 17 per cent of all cases received, which is a higher proportion than last year.

Of those cases investigated, the Ombudsman upheld 85 per cent, with issues remaining particularly acute in the London area.

The third highest area of casework was adult care services, taking 13 per cent of the Ombudsman’s workload – a slightly smaller proportion than last year.

Of these, 78 per cent of investigations carried out were upheld.

The report, along with data for each local authority in England is available on the Ombudsman’s website.