For the third year running the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found 'no fault' with the way South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) deals with complaints.

The Ombudsman has written to SLDC to confirm that zero per cent of the complaints against the council that it investigated in the past year were upheld-compared to an average of 51 per cent for similar organisations.

The Ombudsman looks at individual complaints made against councils and upholds complaints when it finds fault in an organisation’s actions.

In the year up to March 31, 2022, the Ombudsman carried out four investigations into complaints made against SLDC. None of these complaints were upheld.

Councillor Eamonn Hennessy, portfolio holder for customer and locality services, said: “This is very welcome news and is a tangible reflection of the quality and dedication of our officers and the processes we have in place.

"Customers are at the heart of everything we do at the council. Our staff are absolutely dedicated to serving customers to the best of their ability, but occasionally things do go wrong despite our best efforts. When this happens we are committed to putting things right in a transparent and fair manner.

“The Ombudsman’s findings show that we are a well-run council which deals with things properly. If a customer does make a complaint, they can trust us to go through the correct procedures. These findings should give people every confidence that our district council is run effectively and efficiently by staff who genuinely care about the people they serve.”

To view the statistics for SLDC and other councils across the country, go to www.lgo.org.uk/your-councils-performance