Councillors in Telford note “improvement in complaint handing”
Complaints – and compliments – directed to Telford & Wrekin Council have been rising as it continues to see “significant demand, rising expectations and increased pressure on all its services”, councillors were told.
Members of the council’s audit committee agreed that receiving 710 ‘corporate complaints’ last year marked an “incredibly small proportion” of the many thousands of transactions and interactions that take place. It marked an increase from 2023/24 when that figure was 659.
A report to councillors said there are “no major trends” but there are “common themes” across the council about communication, staff, incomplete work/service, lack of action and delays in processing.
At the same time, the council has seen a 128 per cent increase in compliments in the last six years.
Compliments have risen 17 per cent in the last two years alone, although the report to Wednesday’s meeting did not specify the figures being compared.
Councillor Helena Morgan (Labour, Woodside), chairing the committee, praised “the whole team” for being the first council in the country to receive a ServiceMark accreditation from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) earlier this year.
She picked out complaints about adult social care services as being “really, really small” related to the numbers of interactions.
The report says that where fault is found in council services it learns from it.
Compliments are also “shared across the council and within teams, to inspire, motivate and build confidence and ensure that examples of best practice are used to help develop services”.
Councillor Morgan added that “we are open to feedback and this report shows the process is working”.
Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Bill Tomlinson (Shawbirch & Dothill) said: “The direction of travel is really good.”
And Labour councillor Nathan England (The Nedge) said he thought the report showed things were “overall good”.
Councillors voted to “note the improvement in complaint handing performance and the increase in positive feedback”.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet approved a new customer strategy at a meeting in September.
It reiterated a “commitment to service excellence and will further embed the existing ‘Everything Speaks’ approach, paying attention to detail and reporting any issues they see”.
The council has 235 volunteers registered as ‘mystery customers’ helping it to “shape and improve” services.
Its MyTelford app saw 86,749 jobs logged on it during 2024/25.
