Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 30 complaints. Of these, 8 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 14 complaints. We investigated 8 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 8 complaints and upheld 8.
100% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 80% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's population, this is 4 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 3 out of 8 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
38% 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 Stockton-on-Tees Borough 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.
A Stockton-on-Tees mother had to take her young adult son to and from college for three academic years, because the council failed to recognise its duty to arrange free transport, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
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: 24 007 782
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Noise
- The Council will provide training for the Environmental Health and Building Control teams to ensure all officers understand the importance of communicating the outcomes of their reports and/or visits with residents, and to ensure that all decisions made are properly recorded.
- The Council will issue a reminder to all officers handling complaints about the importance of informing complainants that they can escalate their concerns to the Ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the outcome of their complaint.
Case reference: 23 015 502
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to carry out staff training with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities staff around the Council’s duties when accepting transferred Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans from another council area and about its consideration of funding for parents who Electively Home Educate children with EHC Plans.
Case reference: 22 016 474
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour
- The Council has agreed create a guidance note for staff about how to deal with high hedge applications.
Case reference: 23 013 736
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- Ensure that care staff, including agency staff, are reminded to keep up to date contemporaneous records.
Case reference: 23 000 768
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Ensure staff are aware of the Councils statutory obligation and those of the school as detailed in the Education Act 1996 to ensure a child receives a suitable education if they are unable to attend school.
- Review its policies and procedures to ensure the Council retains oversight and responsibility for its duties to children unable to attend school.
Case reference: 21 018 703
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Safeguarding
- Within three months of my final decision statement, the Council will ensure the care agency has:• Reviewed its policies and procedures in relation to meeting nutritional needs. This should include ensuring policies are clear about properly supporting people with their meals, adequately monitoring food intake and consistently preparing meals in line with care plans when required.• Reviewed their policies and procedures in relation to record keeping. This should include ensuring that staff properly record actions taken to meet a person’s care plan, or clearly recording any rationale for not completing an action i.e. not preparing a meal. • Ensured that this information has been shared with staff• The Council will write to the Ombudsmen, with supporting evidence, to confirm these steps have been completed.
- Within three months the Council will write to the Ombudsmen to confirm that the care agency has:• Reviewed their policies and procedures to ensure that there is a robust protocol in place for the administration and recording of medication along with a clear route for escalating any concerns.
Case reference: 22 007 223
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of the statutory timescales when it receives a request for an EHC needs assessment.
Case reference: 21 015 931
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- The Council will provide us with evidence that The Maple Care Home has delivered training to staff in relation to robust record keeping and that it has implemented a new system which has improved record keeping at the Care Home.
Case reference: 21 009 551
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- Remind staff to adhere to the Council’s customer feedback and complaints policy, with particular regard to the timescales and progression of a complaint.
Case reference: 21 002 625
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Cemeteries and crematoria
- The Council agreed to remind relevant staff to provide full information about graves to members of the public to ensure they can make an informed decision about the type of grave they are purchasing, and not to assume they will consult a funeral director.
- The Council agreed to amend its literature about a cemetery in its area to make it clear what grave plots will look like including position, spacing and covering. The Council will provide copies of the amended literature to local funeral directors.
Last updated: 4 April 2015