More complaints about Hampshire County Council have been made to the ombudsman in the past year – but the number actually upheld has remained broadly the same.
Complaints to the ombudsman regarding Hampshire County Council have increased by 34 percent in the past year.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s (LGSCO) annual review for 2024/25 said there were 193 complaints and enquiries in relation to the local authority.
The previous year, 144 complaints were logged about how the county council had acted.
Hampshire County Council said that the number of complaints needs to be considered in the context of being one of the largest local authorities in the country, serving 1.4 million residents.
From the 193 complaints, 179 were ‘dealt with’ and from those, 38 complaints were investigated by the LGSCO.
Of those investigated, 30 were upheld against the county council, which remains a stable figure when compared to the previous year, 31 in 2023/24.
One of the latest complaints involved the council delaying the assignment of an education health care plan for a child who had stopped attending school for more than a year.
As a result of the complaint to the ombudsman, the family received an apology from the council for the delay and a payment of £2,950 as a remedy.
The council said that special educational needs and adult social care are areas which continue to face “exceptional demand”.
A Hampshire County Council spokesperson said: “We always try to do our very best to get things right first time for Hampshire residents, and we take any issues raised very seriously.
“Where we haven’t been able to resolve things directly with members of the public, we work closely with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) to address the issue, to learn from our mistakes and improve our services along the way.
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