Complaints to the council were down for 2020/21 and compliments up, a report has said.

A report from the Complaints and Freedom of Information (FOI) service covering 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, states that there were 814 compliments received in 2020/21 and 103 complaints, of which 61 are at stage one and 42 escalated to stage two, with the service also processing 435 enquiries.

There were 756 FOI and EIR (Environmental Information Regulations) – four of which led to internal reviews – and 32 contacts from the PSOW.

This compares to 124 complaints in 2019/20 and 431 compliments.

Members of the thriving communities overview and scrutiny committee welcomed the improvements made compared to previous years and acknowledged the “significant pressures” put on the service during the pandemic.

Complaints and FOI manager Marie-Neige Hadfield told members that the number of compliments was almost double than in 2019/20 and the majority were received by Porth Ceredigion.

The top ten complaints include refuse collection and household waste sites, council tax and housing benefit, planning and environmental health with 61 per cent dealt with within the ten working day timescale.