Southend-on-Sea City Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 61 complaints. Of these, 19 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 30 complaints. We investigated 12 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 12 complaints and upheld 12.
100% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 80% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Southend-on-Sea City Council's population, this is 6.6 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
5.3 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 0 out of 12 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
0% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 10% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 8 cases.
In 8 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against Southend-on-Sea City Council
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Council to apologise to Southend mother for not considering her needs as a carer
Southend council has agreed to apologise to a mother for twice failing to assess her needs as a carer despite agreeing to do so in a previous investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
Find out more about service improvements
When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 24 007 529
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council has agreed to remind staff of the importance of accurate recording keeping and the important role this plays in decision making during casework, but also during complaint handling.
Case reference: 24 006 348
Category: Transport and highways
Sub Category: Parking and other penalties
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff, including those employed by its enforcement agents, that they need to consider vulnerability promptly, record any decisions and clearly coordinate action between the Council and the enforcement agent.
Case reference: 24 000 158
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- By training or other means, remind officers that they should discuss with parents/carers whether a personal budget is appropriate once it has issued the draft Education, Health and Care Plan.
Case reference: 23 008 265
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- Improve the information on its website to include information about the complaints process for people who are unhappy with council-funded care. Ensure that the webpage is clear about the fact the statutory adult social care complaints procedure is a single-stage investigation process before escalation to the Ombudsman.
Case reference: 23 006 554
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to share a copy of the Ombudsman's decision and our focus report Out of school, out of sight? with relevant staff, to remind officers of steps the Council should take to consider and adhere to its Section 19 duty to provide alternative education provision.
- The Council has agreed to compile an action plan setting out the proposed improvements it will make to its services, allowing it to issue Education, Health and Care Plans quicker following an annual review. The Council will share this action plan with the Ombudsman.
Case reference: 22 017 838
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council will prepare an action plan setting out how it will check its partner landlords are aware of how to correctly advertise properties on its choice-based lettings system, and how it will ensure this is happening. The Council will share its action plan with the Ombudsman.
Case reference: 23 006 422
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to review with the staff the importance of properly considering whether it is reasonable for an applicant to continue residing at a property which is in disrepair and affecting their health.
- The Council has agreed to review with the staff the importance of properly considering whether it is reasonable for an applicant to continue to occupy the property beyond the expiry of an eviction notice.
- The Council has agreed to review with the staff the importance of making a suitability decision when applicants are unhappy with temporary accommodation.
- The Council has agreed to review with the staff the importance of ensuring offers are in line with its assessment of the applicant’s and its household’s needs.
Case reference: 21 015 767
Category: Transport and highways
Sub Category: Parking and other penalties
- The Council will also carry out a prompt review of the parking concerns raised by Mr X and provide him with details of the action, if any, the Council intends to take. It should also provide a timeframe for any such action. Remind its staff of its responsibilities to consider and respond properly to the complaints it receives.
Case reference: 21 011 337
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Other
- Review the back log of private sector housing cases the Council has to investigate and look to see what measures it can put in place to reduce this.
- Ensure there are measures in place to keep individuals updated about their cases when there is a delay in investigating.
Case reference: 21 001 790
Category: Other Categories
Sub Category: Land
- Look at what went wrong in this case when handling Mr X’s reports about the condition of the pathway and consider how the Council can put in place a joined up approach when dealing with concerns involving different teams.
Last updated: 4 April 2015