Probe after council receives 1,805 complaints in one year

But less are being referred to ombudsmen

- Phil Corrigan

COUNCILLORS will carry out an investigation following a rise in complaints against their authority.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council received 1,805 'stage one' complaints last year, up from 1,199 in 2022/23, while the number of cases escalated to 'stage two' rose from 95 to 167.

Officers say that much of this increase has been due to housing disrepair claims being logged as complaints - a rise in 'no win, no fee' solicitors targeting council tenants has been a recent national trend.

And while the overall number of complaints to the city council has risen over the last two years, the number of cases being referred to the Local Government Ombudsman has fallen.

Members of the strategy and resources scrutiny committee agreed to carry out work looking into the nature of the complaints to see how the number can be reduced.