Ombudsman sees drop in complaints about Wrexham Council in 2022/23

The number of complaints made to Public Services Ombudsman for Wales about Wrexham County Borough Council have dropped in the last 12 months.

There was an eight per cent decrease in complaints about the local authority made to the Ombudsman in the 2022/23 financial year compared to 2021/2022.

This equates to a drop from 71 complaints to 65 year on year.

The figure has been released as part of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, which revealed a record number of new complaints received about public services, accompanied by a notable year of action and challenges. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Titled ‘A year of change – a year of challenge’, the report showcases a diverse picture across different sectors of public service.

The Ombudsman’s first role is to investigate complaints about public services.
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While local council complaints fell by 11 per cent, there was a 21 per cent increase in complaints about Welsh Health Boards and a 15 per cent uptick in complaints about Housing Associations. ‌

As in previous years, the most complained about Health Board was Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

However the number of complaints about the north Wales health board increased by just six per cent on the previous year – the lowest overall rise in Wales.

Complaints about the Code of Conduct

The Ombudsman’s second role is to investigate complaints about local councillors breaching their authority’s Code of Conduct. During 2022/23, the office received fewer such complaints.

The Ombudsman investigates Code of Conduct complaints where there is a public interest to do so – these are cases where there are serious concerns or where investigation would be of significant benefit to the public.

Last year it investigated a slightly lower proportion of complaints than last year (13 per cent compared with 14 cent).

The Ombudsman does not make final findings about breaches of the Code of Conduct.

Instead, where investigations find the most serious concerns, these are referred to the Standards Committee of the relevant local authority, or the Adjudication Panel for Wales.

Improvement work

The Ombudsman’s third role is to drive public services improvement.

Despite the pressures on the office due to the significant increase in caseload, this improvement work continued during the year.

The office can specify and monitor how public bodies handle complaints.

By the end of 2022/23, a total of 51 bodies were brought under those complaint standards (compared to 39 last year).

The Ombudsman also provided during the year 183 online training sessions to those bodies on good complaint handling.

The office can also investigate on own initiative (without having received a complaint).

In 2022/23, it consulted on the proposed next own initiative investigation, into access to, and the handling of, needs assessments for unpaid carers.

Commenting on the Report, Michelle Morris, the Ombudsman, said: “It has been a year of many successes and positive change, but also some challenges.

We are glad that, with record complaints closures, we were able to help many more people this year.

“We welcome the drop in the number of new complaints about the Code of Conduct, and in the number of potentially serious breaches of the Code that we had to refer on.

“Our improvement work is progressing apace, with more and more bodies brought under our complaints standards.

“Not least, during the year we developed our new Strategic Plan, setting out our ambitions for our office, public services and local democracy in Wales.

“Despite these and other positives, it has also been a very challenging year.

“We are seeing more and more complaints about public services. Health continues to be the subject of over 80% of our investigations overall and these investigations are often lengthy and complex.

“This workload meant that some people have had to wait longer for an outcome.

“Our growing workload has also affected the well-being of our staff.

“We trust that our new Strategic Plan will help us work more efficiently and have more impact, while also allowing us to remain a supportive and healthy workplace.

“Nevertheless, our increasing caseload pressures are a growing concern and we will be realistic about the resources and capacity available to us to deliver change as we embark on this new chapter in our service to the people of Wales”