Telford & Wrekin Council to improve communication as complaints and compliments rise

Officials are launching a drive to improve the way Telford & Wrekin Council officers communicate with “customers” as they digest data from rising numbers of complaints and compliments.

Both complaints and praise have shown double-digit increases for a number of reasons according to a report being presented to councillors next week.

The council has a team of 256 volunteer mystery customers to probe services.

Chiefs at Southwater One have recorded an increase in corporate complaints which rose from 710 in 2024-25 to 839 in 2025-26 (18 per cent). They also recorded 53 statutory complaints about adult services and 22 about children's services.

Compliments have risen 24 per cent in the last year, from 660 to 818.

A report set to be considered at a meeting next week says communication "continues to be a recurring theme” and the council will take “targeted action to address this with an organisation-wide communications plan”.

"Reminders have been issued to officers to ensure that they keep customers updated and services have made changes to procedures."

The campaign “will remind colleagues of expected standards, including responding promptly to calls and emails, providing clear and concise explanations and managing expectations effectively”.

The report notes that complaints involving staff have actually decreased and now represent 13 per cent of those upheld.

"Concerns included perceived rudeness or discourtesy, lack of empathy or inconsistency in applying standards and rules."

But they report that in the "majority of cases" investigations found no deliberate wrongdoing but were nevertheless upheld due to the impact on the customer.

"It is recognised that customers are highly sensitive to tone, body language, and how messages are delivered particularly in challenging situations.

"We will continue to extend customer service and equality training, encourage reflective practice and supervision and promoting consistent, compassionate approach across all customer facing roles.”

The report points out that complaints represent a “very small proportion” of the thousands of interactions with customers each year. Staff emptied 11.1 million bins, sent out 172,000 council tax bills and handled 152,122 calls to its corporate contact centre last year.

The council's neighbourhood and enforcement services teams topped the charts for both complaints and compliments.

They handle waste, highways, grounds maintenance, public protection, community safety and enforcement.

Officials stated that the increase in complaints "mirrors the picture nationally where complaints are continuing to increase across both the public and private sector”.

They said the increase in both compliments and complaints "suggest that customers are effectively accessing our feedback processes”.

"We welcome this additional feedback as a key mechanism to improve our services, and so we are encouraged that more people feel able to give their views."

The audit committee on Wednesday (November 18) will also be told that enquiries from MPs increased by 109 per cent to a total of 528.

Councillors have been recommended to "note the positive performance highlighted in this report" and welcome its findings.