COVID-19 ‘magnified stresses’ that councils were already faced with before the pandemic and dealing with complaints became a ‘casualty,’ a new report has said.
Based on an analysis of cases over the first 18 months of the pandemic, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman concluded that councils and care providers weathered the unprecedented pressures they were under ‘by and large’.
However, the ombudsman noted that when things did go wrong it had a 'serious impact on people’s lives’ and that councils and care providers did not always handle complaints very well.
The largest category of complaints investigated during those 18 months related to benefits and tax (41%). These were almost exclusively about council decisions on business support grants.
Ombudsman Michael King said: ‘Our investigations have shown that while the system did not collapse under the extreme pressures placed on it COVID-19 has magnified stresses and weaknesses present before the pandemic, affecting some councils and providers.
‘We have always advocated how crucial good complaint handling is in any setting so I am particularly saddened that, in some authorities, dealing with public concerns and complaints itself became a casualty of the crisis.
'At a time when listening to public problems was more important than ever we saw some overstretched and under-resourced complaints teams struggle to cope.'