Summary of report
Governing body response
Read the Governing body response (PDF 156KB) to the 2025-26 Annual Complaints and Service Improvement Report and Self Assessment against Housing Ombudsman code.
Annual self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman and Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman codes
Read the council's latest self assessment (PDF 509KB) against the Housing Ombudsman code. Read the council's latest self assessment against the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman code (PDF, 289KB).
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman - Annual Letter
Read the LGSCO annual letter 2025-26 (PDF, 134KB)
Summary of report
| Complaint Volumes | 2024-2025 | 2025-2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 136 | 195 |
| Stage 2 | 32 | 60 |
| Ombudsman (Enquiries and Investigations) | 7 | 25 |
Increase in overall complaints in 2025-26
There has been an overall increase in complaint volumes in 2025-26 compared with 2024-25. Stage 1 complaints increased from 136 to 195, an increase of 59 complaints or 43%. Stage 2 complaints increased from 32 to 60, an increase of 28 complaints or 88%. Taken together, Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints increased from 168 to 255, an overall increase of 87 complaints or 51.8%.
Key areas contributing to the 2025-26 increase
The largest increases in Stage 1 complaint volumes include Parking, which rose from 5 to 29 complaints, Benefits, which increased from 9 to 25, Corporate Debt, which increased from 6 to 13, and Housing Strategy & Options, which increased from 24 to 32. Housing Landlord Service recorded fewer Stage 1 complaints, reducing from 46 to 36; however, Stage 2 complaints for Housing Service increased from 7 to 16, indicating a higher level of escalation within that service area.
2025/26 Complaints breakdown compared with 2024/25 year:
| Service Area | Stage | 2024/2025 | 2025/2026 | 2025/2026 Remedy |
Percentage of complaints |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits | Stage 1 | 9 | 25 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 6 Not upheld – 18 No further action – 1 |
Stage 1:24% |
| Stage 2 | 3 | 7 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 2 Not upheld – 4 No further action – 1 |
Stage 2: 29% | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 2 | 2 LGO Investigations | ||
| Building Control | Stage 1 | 1 | 5 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 4 Not upheld – 1 |
Stage 1: 80% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 1 | Not upheld -1 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Community Safety | Stage 1 | 0 | 2 | Not upheld - 2 | None at |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Information Governance | Stage 1 | 1 | 2 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 1 Not upheld – 1 |
Stage 1: 50% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 3 | Not upheld - 3 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Complaints | Stage 1 | - | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 1 |
| Corporate Debt | Stage 1 | 6 | 13 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 2 Not upheld – 10 No further action – 1 |
Stage 1: 15% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Customer Support | Stage 1 | 2 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 1 |
| Stage 2 | 1 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Economic Development (Regeneration) | Stage 1 | 0 | 0 | Nil | |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Environmental Health | Stage 1 | 5 | 5 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 1 Not upheld – 3 No further action – 1 |
Stage 1: 20% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Environmental Health and HR (Joint complaint) | Stage 1 | - | 1 | Not further action - 1 | None at Stage 1 |
| Grounds Maintenance | Stage 1 | 4 | 4 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 2 Not upheld – 2 |
Stage 1: 50% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Highways | Stage 1 | 0 | 0 | Nil | |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Housing Landlord Service | Stage 1 | 46 | 36 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 14 Not upheld – 18 No further action – 4 |
Stage 1: 39% |
| Stage 2 | 7 | 16 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 8 Not upheld – 8 |
Stage 2: 56% | |
| Ombudsman | 1 | 4 | 4 Enquiries | ||
| Housing Strategy & Options | Stage 1 | 24 | 32 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 6 Not upheld – 19 No further action – 4 Withdrawn – 3 |
Stage 1: 19% |
| Stage 2 | 5 | 9 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 5 Not upheld – 4 |
Stage 2: 56% | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 6 | 4 Enquiries 2 Investigations |
||
| Housing Strategy and Options/Private Sector Housing (Joint complaint) | Stage 2 | 1 | 0 | Nil | |
| Human Resources | Stage 1 | 1 | 0 | Nil | |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| ICT and Infrastructure | Stage 1 | 1 | 0 | Nil | |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Land & Property | Stage 1 | 1 | 2 | Upheld/Partially upheld - 2 | Stage 1: 100% |
| Stage 2 | 2 | 2 | Not upheld - 2 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 2 | 1 Enquiry 1 Investigation |
||
| Parking (3rd Party) | Stage 2 | 1 | 0 | Nil | |
| Planning | Stage 1 | 15 | 19 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 7 Not upheld – 10 No further action – 1 Withdrawn – 1 |
Stage 1: 37% |
| Stage 2 | 6 | 9 | Not upheld - 9 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 2 | 2 | 2 Investigations | ||
| Planning/Revenues (Joint complaint) | Stage 1 | 1 | 0 | Nil | |
| Prifage Sector Housing | Stage 1 | 3 | 2 | Not upheld - 1 No further action - 1 |
None at Stage 1 |
| Stage 2 | 2 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 2 | 7 | 3 Enquiries 4 Investigations |
||
| PR, Website and Comms | Stage 1 | 1 | 1 | Not upheld - 1 | None at Stage 1 |
| Revenues | Stage 1 | 3 | 6 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 3 Not upheld – 3 |
Stage 1: 50% |
| Stage 2 | 0 | 2 | Not upheld - 2 | None at Stage 2 | |
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Waste Services | Stage 1 | 7 | 8 | Upheld/Partially upheld – 1 Not upheld – 3 No further action – 4 |
stage 1: 12% |
| Stage 2 | 1 | 0 | Nil | ||
| Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | Nil |
Third Party Complaints in 2025-26
A total of 11 complaints were referred to the relevant third party or organisation to respond to at Stage 1 on the Council’s behalf during 2025-26. Where the Council has a contractual arrangement with a third-party organisation, such as a contractor, the organisation will respond directly to a complaint at Stage 1 in line with the Council’s complaints policy and the Ombudsman Code. This approach helps ensure that individuals or residents do not have to go through two separate complaints processes to resolve the same complaint. Mears and Swale Heating (now Sureserve Compliance South) each operate and manage their own complaints processes. As a result, complaints handled directly by these organisations are recorded and investigated through their own arrangements and are not included within the Council’s complaint statistics in this report. Where a complaint is not resolved satisfactorily at Stage 1, it can be progressed to Stage 2, at which point the Council will investigate and respond.
| Third Party | Number of complaints |
|---|---|
| Mears | 3 |
| Swale Heating | 1 |
| Sureserve Compliance South | 4 |
| Other | 3 |
| Total | 11 |
Complaint Contact Methods 2024-25 vs 2025-26
| Contact Methods | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|
| Email/Online Form | 96% | 94.3% |
| Letter (Post) | 2% | 3.4% |
| Telephone | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| In Person | 0% | 0.3% |