Complaints to Lewisham Council increase again

There were a total of 7,828 complaints and enquiries received in 2018/19, a 12 per cent increase from the year previous.  

Complaints about council services have increased by 64 per cent since 2012, going up year on year.  

In the last year, complaints about regeneration and resources in the borough surged from 843 in 2017/18 to 2,368, a 181 per cent increase.  

There was a decrease of 11 per cent in complaints made about children and young people’s services, from 257 to 229. 

Community services received 306 complaints, an increase of four per cent, while complaints about customer services at Lewisham Council dropped by 19 per cent to 3,765.  

Complaints about Lewisham Homes went up by 24 per cent, from 935 in 2017/18 to 1,160 in the last year.  

There was an drop in the percentage of issues progressing to stage 2 of the complaints process.

The report does not include complaints about adult and children’s social care, both of which are reported individually.  

The council said the rise in complaints to the resources and regeneration directorate was due to a change in how it categorises some complaints but did not elaborate.

“Every week in Lewisham we have several million interactions with our customers. The total number of complaints received is therefore a very small percentage.

“The apparent large rise in complaints to the resources and regeneration directorate is not what it seems to be.

“This year we have altered the way in which we categorise some complaints resulting in a rise in some categories and a drop in others,” a spokesperson said.

She added: “It’s always disappointing to receive complaints, however government cuts continue to impact on our ability to deliver services.

“Despite this we try very hard to limit the consequences and resolve complaints as quickly as possible.

“We are also resolving more complaints at the first point of contact, reflected in the drop in the number of them escalating to stage 2 despite an increase at stage 1.

“We encourage customers to tell us when there is a problem so that we can put it right quickly. This is the likely reason for the rise in complaints and we view this as a learning opportunity to improve our services.”

On average the top three complaints in the borough were about environment, housing strategy, and council tax. 

A large number of complaints related to bin requests, garden waste and food waste.  

“The service noticed a large increase in residents ordering bins since the fortnightly collections were introduced and some residents were ordering additional bins instead of trying to reduce their waste.  

“The service has now introduced a new bin ordering system via the customer relationship management system which is used mainly by the call centre for booking and paying for jobs, which now prevents residents ordering domestic bins within six months of their last order.  

“The system also has streamlined the bin deliveries into wards and gives customers a date to let them know when their bins will be delivered,” according to the report.  

There were also complaints about bins being left uncollected, the lack of food bin provision for blocks of flats, and enquiries about fox-proof bins, a pilot of which is being trialled in the borough.  

The second biggest issue for Lewisham residents was housing, specifically homelessness, housing waiting times, and the quality of homes.  

According to the report, the service is “working at all times to procure temporary accommodation within or as close to Lewisham as possible”, improving customer service, and is transferring complaints about temporary accommodation to an online management system in a bid to decrease complaints.  

Council tax was the third most complained about issue, with the top two reasons being getting a summons and enquiring about a bill.    

Complaints about telephone services at the council increased, with people finding it difficult to get through.  

“In order to mitigate this, information regarding the best time to contact the service is dispatched with specific documents and the customer service managers continue to work with the telephony providers to improve the customer experience,” according to the report.  

Residents in Brockley – 32 per 1,000 – complained the most, firstly about Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Brockley Regenter, followed by refuse and recycling and then council tax.  

The second highest number of complaints were received from residents in Ladywell, the top three being about Regenter, refuse and recycling and the housing options centre.  

Rushey Green produced the third highest number, mainly about the housing options centre, council tax and refuse and recycling.  

Residents in Whitefoot complained the least, at a rate of 10 in 1,000. 

Of the 96 complaints that were sent to the Independent Adjudicator after failing to be resolved directly with the council, 26 per cent were upheld or partially upheld.  

Compensation was awarded in 14 cases, £6,919.50 in total, of which £1,400 was for Lewisham Homes.