Residents in North Tyneside continue to receive an excellent service from their local authority, councillors will hear.
North Tyneside Council remains the lowest in Tyne and Wear for the number of complaints made against local authorities, according to the latest annual report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).
Customer satisfaction with the complaints process in North Tyneside remains relatively high and the authority continues to resolve the vast majority of complaints at the earliest stage, a report to Cabinet reveals.
Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE said: “We pride ourselves on being a council that works better for its residents.
“Throughout the year we carry out millions of transactions with our 206,000 residents and over five million visitors to the borough.
“However, the number of complaints we receive remains consistently low.
“This is a reflection of the excellent services our residents get as well as our ability to quickly resolve any issues that do arise at the first point of contact.”
In 2017-18 the LGSCO received 44 complaints – slightly higher than the previous year but fewer than the two years previous to that - for North Tyneside Council.
Of the 44 complaints, 33 were either referred back to the council to deal with, not upheld, or closed after initial investigation.
Meanwhile, there were 1,196 formal complaints to the council in 2017-18 - similar to 2016-17 when 1,107 complaints were registered.
Paul Hanson, Acting Chief Executive, North Tyneside Council, said: “I am proud to lead a team who make a huge difference to the people of North Tyneside and the borough itself every day.
“We do a great deal of work, often in difficult circumstances and we don’t always get it right. So, when we get it wrong, it is important we get a chance to put things right and to learn for the next time.”
View the agenda and reports for the next Cabinet meeting on 10 September here.