A REPORT released by the Local Government Ombudsman reveals Gloucestershire County Council has recorded 75 complaints and inquiries over the past 12 months; an increase of three from the previous year.

Of the 75 complaints, 32 investigations were undertaken by the ombudsman. Eleven of the 32 cases were found in favour of the complainant and the council agreed with the resolution proposed in all 11 incidents. There were 25 complaints referred back to the council for local resolution.

People are directed to the Local Government Ombudsman if they feel the council hasn’t dealt with their complaints in a satisfactory way.

The LGO helps to make sure that local public services are accountable to the people that use them by ensuring that local authorities put things right when they go wrong.

Councillor Ray Theodoulou, cabinet member for finance and change, said: “We take every complaint seriously and we have worked hard to simplify the complaints process to make it easier for people to complain when they have an issue.

“We are never complacent where complaints are concerned and make every effort to resolve complaints as soon as we become aware of them. We will continue to take this issue extremely seriously.”