Lib Dems Concerned Over Increased Council Complaints

4.06.52pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Jun 2008

North Yorkshire County Council's Liberal Democrat members are concerned about the sharp rise in the number of complaints about council services.

A report to the Council's Standards Committee shows that the number of complaints rocketed from 532 in 2006-07 to 847 in 2007-08. This is an increase of nearly 60%. There was little change in the number of complaints in the year before that.

The bulk of the increase appears to be in Adult & Community Services, which covers social care and libraries.

Cllr John Marshall, Lib Dem spokesperson, commented:

"Alarm bells should be ringing at County Hall. A 60% rise in complaints should be a cause for concern for any organisation. Most worrying is the rise in complaints about adult & community services, which have more than doubled."

Cllr Marshall, from Harrogate, added:

"When the Standards Committee meets next week I will be asking what has gone wrong and what is to be done about it. The Conservative bosses at County Hall really need to give this their full attention."