New figures show how many complaints were made to the ombudsman about Lancaster City Council last year

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is responsible for investigating wrongdoing in local public services.

If it finds that the council has acted in an unfair or unjust way, the ombudsman will offer recommendations on how to make things right.

According to figures from the body, there were 14 complaints or enquiries made about Lancaster City Council in the year to March – up from 11 the year before.

But after investigation, the ombudsman found the council to have acted unjustly on three occasions last year.

The most common reason for coming to the ombudsman in Lancaster was for issues related to benefits and tax, with four complaints or enquiries.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "One complaint can have immense power to change things for the better.

“The vast majority of councils agree to the recommendations we make and see them as common sense ways of providing better services for people in their area."

Across England, councils were found to have acted unjustly on 2,678 occasions, a 27% increase on 2,104 the year before.

Nationally, the number of complaints rose compared to last year, with 15,826 in the year to March, up 25% from 11,830 last year, but did not quite reach the 17,019 recorded in 2019-20.

Problems with education and children's services were the most common reason to get in touch with the organisation, with 3,145 complaints and enquiries, while there were more than 2,000 each for planning and development, adult social care, and housing.

Coun Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “Our aim as a council is to ensure we never have complaints referred to the ombudsman. We strive to get it right first time in every case, and where something does go wrong we try to rectify it as soon as possible and learn lessons for the future.

“To put the figures into context, the council provides services to around 140,000 residents and many thousands of businesses, and from this the ombudsman upheld three of the fourteen cases referred to the service.

“This low number is testament to the quality of the services the council provides its residents and the excellent standards maintained by its workforce in delivering them. Our residents are at the heart of everything we do and we are constantly striving to improve our services for their benefit.

"We are very proud of the work we do to help improve the lives of those living and working in our communities as well as in addressing the needs of the district as whole.”