Warwick District Council to review policy after rise in escalated complaints last year

Warwick District Council had the second largest increase nationally in the number of complaints received between 2021 and 2022, according to data published after a freedom of information (FOI) request was made.

The authority had a 195% increase in complaints escalated to a higher stage during this time period compared to the previous 12 months (18 compared to 6), customer experience management company Quadient – which made the FOI request to councils across the UK - has found.

Quadient has said that, according to the information it received, the number of complaints from citizens to local councils that were escalated increased by ten per cent in 2022.

Phil Jones, Quadient’s business development director, said: “Local councils are under huge pressure from citizens to improve services as the cost-of-living increases, so it’s no surprise that complaints are on the rise.

"However, it is worrying that the number of complaints escalated has increased by such a significant volume. Even in councils where escalations have fallen, they have generally fallen in low numbers.

"This illustrates that local councils are struggling to deal with complaints effectively and quickly, leaving citizens still angry and wanting more.

"If local councils can’t control this level of escalation, then they will only see dissatisfaction rise.

"This will mean more time and resources spent on escalated complaints, and less on the services their communities need.”

A spokeswoman for Warwick District Council said that the authority received a total of 57 ‘Stage 1’ formal complaints in 2022 compared to 56 in 2021, so there has been no major rise in these figures.

But, she added: “Whilst we appreciate that there has been an increase in the number of complaints requiring a ‘stage 2’ investigation – where the matter was not resolved or new evidence needed to be referred to or considered - with 18 cases in 2022 compared to six the previous year, these numbers remain low and comparable with 2020, 2019 and the first half of 2023.

"We are however not complacent and are in the process of reviewing our current complaints policy to see if it can be improved further.”