Complaints about Warwickshire County Council have fallen by 40% over last year, council reports

Warwickshire County Council has seen reported complaints about its services fall steeply in the past year, thanks to a new complaints process and better staff training.

In its annual customer feedback report published on 1 July, the council documented a 43% overall decrease in complaints over the last 12 months, with the total falling from 1,520 in 2023/24 to 869 in 2024/25.

Recorded compliments have also increased by the same proportion, from 454 in 2023/24 to 650 in 2024/25.

The committee was told that more customer contacts have been classified as comments rather than complaints over the past 18 months.

This is due to improvements in the classification of customer contacts and service requests, which allows for a more accurate reflection of customer feedback, as complaints can now be reassigned as comments

This is due to improvements in the classification of customer contacts and service requests, which allows for a more accurate reflection of customer feedback, as complaints can now be reassigned as comments.

According to the report, comments “only become a complaint if they are not handled appropriately and within the agreed timescale”.

Before, cases had to remain in the initial category recorded by the customer, resulting in service requests often being recorded as complaints instead of comments.

The Customer Relations Team within the Council has also taken actions to improve communications with the public

The report stated that the new customer feedback system gave managers “richer data” to work with, and has allowed them to recognise patterns in complaints and other customer contacts, thereby resolving any issues more efficiently.

The Customer Relations Team within the Council has also taken actions to improve communications with the public.

Letter templates, which are used by the Team, have been updated to better address the core of customer complaints on a point-by-point basis.

Training has also been expanded to provide a clearer understanding of relevant policies, resulting in improved response letters.

The Council has additionally increased training in policy exclusions, such as complaints about councillors and data protection, which has helped to manage customer expectations at the point of contact.