Complaints about local councils received by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has increased by more than 50 per cent in five years, a fresh report has revealed.

In the Ombudsman’s Annual Report & Accounts for 2024-25, data reveals that the office received 1,337 complaints about local councils in Wales – a 54 per cent increase from 2019-20.

The number of complaints to Ceredigion County Council referred to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales rose up to 47 in 2024/25 from 32 the previous year.

32 of the Ombudsman complaints were concluded without requiring any intervention, with 10 requiring action and one still ongoing.

A Ceredigion council report said that the number of Ombudsman referrals increasing is a “cause for concern” but “can be attributed, in part, to the staffing problems experienced by the Complaints and FOI Team during this year.”

In Gwynedd, complaints about the council escalated to the Ombudsman rose to 46 in 2024/25, up from 38 the previous year.

Pembrokeshire County Council also saw a rise in complaints, with 47 recorded in 2024/25, up from 40 the previous year.

In Powys, 45 complaints were received by the Ombudman about the county council in the past year, up by one from the 2023/24 figure.

Carmarthenshire County Council saw a bigger rise in complaints, with 86 received in 2024/25, up from 69 in 2023/24.

The report said: “The main complaint subjects accounting for this increase related to social services, environment and environmental health, and housing.

“However, we also saw a welcome drop in complaints about complaint handling.

“Unsurprisingly, the councils with the largest number of residents generate the highest number of complaints.

“The council with the highest proportion of complaints per head of population was Cardiff Council.

“Still, we saw large increases in complaints numbers across the sector, with the number of complaints increasing by over 40 per cent at several councils.”

The Ombudsman’s report also shows that the office received 949 complaints about Wales’ health boards – up 26 per cent since 2019-20.

At 34 per cent, health remains the most common subject of new complaints.

However, the proportion of complaints about housing has increased, to 19 per cent.

The report said that the Ombudsman “consistently receive more complaints about Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board than any other health board.”

“However, when we consider the population figures for each health board, Betsi Cadwaladr, Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay University Health Boards were subject to most complaints per 1,000 residents,” the report adds.

Hywel Dda received 130 complaints in 2024/25, down from 138 the previous year, the report shows.

Betsi Cadwaladr complaints rose to 236 in 2024/25 compared to 214 in 2023/24.

Complaints about Powys Teaching Health Board fell to 20 in 2024/25, but only one less than the previous year.

The number of complaints about clinical treatment in hospital and about GP services increased this year, with those two subjects now accounting for 61 per cent of all health-related complaints.

Around 16 per cent of complaints about health boards related to complaint handling.

The report also outlines that 411 complaints about housing associations were received during 2024/25, more than double the figure from five years ago.

“This is an eight per cent increase from the previous year and a very significant 103 per cent increase compared to 2019-20,” the report said.

“Repairs and maintenance made up 41 per cent of new complaints about housing associations – a welcome decrease compared to 48 per cent last year

“The main subjects responsible for the increase in complaints about housing associations this year were neighbour disputes or antisocial behaviour and damp and mould.

“This year, we published a thematic report about complaints about damp and mould and we will continue to monitor the impact of these issues on our complainants.”

The report also shows that the overall proportion of complaints about complaint handling has continued to decrease and now stands at 12 per cent - the lowest since 2019-20.

The Ombudsman found that something had gone wrong and intervened in 18 per cent of complaints about public services closed during the year, compared to 20 per cent the year before.

Almost nine out of 10 times, the Ombudsman intervened by proposing Early Resolution, to deliver justice quickly, without the need for a full investigation.

In 2024-25, the office issued 1,472 recommendations to public service providers – a drop compared to 1,679 last year.

The figure “reflects our lower intervention rate, across the complaints that we closed.” the report said.

Organisations complied with 94 per cent of the Ombudsman’s recommendations due during the year, but a lower proportion of recommendations were complied with in time with the target date agreed.

The Ombudsman is also responsible for investigating complaints about local councillors breaching the Code of Conduct.

During 2024-25, the Ombudsman received 315 Code of Conduct complaints that the office could consider; four per cent less than last year, but 36 per cent more than in 2019-20.

60 per cent of the new complaints were made against councillors at Town and Community Councils and 56 per cent were about how councillors promoted equality and respect.

The office for the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said the overall rise in new compliants – which stood at 43 per cent since the year preceding the Covid-19 pandemic was “staggering”.

The report said that 2024-25 “marks another year of increasing caseloads, with more people than ever approaching the Ombudsman with complaints about public services.”

“The Office has intervened early in more cases and reduced the time taken to complete investigations,” the report said.

“The Ombudsman has also made strides in promoting improvements in public services through complaints standards work, own initiative investigations and thematic reports.

“Despite challenges, public confidence in the office is the highest on record.”

Michelle Morris, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said: “We have now completed the second year of our Strategic Plan 2023-26, ‘A New Chapter’, and it has been another busy year.

“We continue to see an increase in new complaints reaching the Office.

“I am proud to say that, despite this, our staff have continued to deliver exceptional services.

“However, managing this increasing workload remains a serious challenge for our Office.

“This year, we gathered views from public service providers, the third sector and the general public, about our organisation and the services we deliver.

“We were pleased to see evidence of general appreciation of our work and acknowledgement that we have a positive impact on improving public services.

“There is more work to be done.

“The continuing increase in complaints remains one of the biggest challenges facing our office.

“Despite increased outreach and communications activity, we have struggled to diversify the profile of people who use our service.

“Also, although our process is fully bilingual, very few people opt to complain to us in Welsh.

“This has been a year of new challenges, but also of new achievements.

“We can look to the future with assurance that we are on the right track.

“We will continue to work towards our ambitious goals during 2025-26, exploring new ways to overcome longstanding challenges and delivering justice and positive change for the people of Wales.”