Complaints made by Members of Parliament and councillors to Liverpool Council are given priority over the general public a review has found.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has undertaken an assessment of complaint handling following feedback from the government appointed commissioners overseeing the local authority. Then-chief executive Tony Reeves asked the ombudsman to carry out the external work.
Its report, which was completed in June and will go before the council’s audit committee next week, found while there were examples of good practice, “there is a perceived absence of senior leadership oversight and direction in relation to complaint handling.” In addition, customers have to go through a convoluted process and “insufficient steps are taken to place the person complaining at the heart” of it.
