COUNTY, district and borough councils have been subject to more than 220 complaints and inquiries to the Local Government Ombudsman, new figures show.

According to the figures, there were 179 complaints and inquiries made about Essex County Council in the year to March, up from 134 the year before.

After investigation, the Ombudsman found the council to have acted unjustly on 47 occasions last year.

An Essex County Council spokesperson said: “As the figures show, 47 complaints have been upheld by the Ombudsman in the full year up to March 2022. 47 cases from customer contact of 18,908 is 0.2 per cent.

“Essex County Council is actively committed to transparency and it does actively signpost people to the Ombudsman as part of the complaints process if people are not satisfied with our complaint response.”

Tendring Council saw 28 complaints or inquires made in the year to March, rising from 14 the year before.

The Ombudsman found Tendring Council to have acted unjustly on two occasions the previous year.

Residents most complained to the Ombudsman regarding issues related to planning and development, with ten complaints or inquiries.

Neil Stock, Tendring Council leader, said: “The figures show that in three cases the complaint was not upheld and in the vast majority the Ombudsman did not investigate or referred the matter back to our own complaints procedure; only in two cases for the past year did the Ombudsman find that we had acted incorrectly

“Of the complaints made in 2020/21, again 13 were not investigated, one not upheld, and in one case we had, in our own handling of the matter, already complied with the Ombudsman’s recommended course of action.”

Colchester Council saw 21 complaints or inquiries made to the Ombudsman by residents, up from 15 the year before.

Housing was the most frequent issue for Colchester residents going to the Ombudsman with seven complaints or inquiries.

Adam Fox, deputy leader of Colchester Council, said: “In the one case upheld by the Ombudsman, we followed all the Ombudsman’s recommendations on how to resolve the complaint. 

“I can assure everyone that we take every complaint seriously and look into how we can ensure we learn from them and get even better going forward.”