COMPLAINTS lodged against Barnsley Council with a government ombudsman increased by a third in a year, according to new figures obtained by the Chronicle.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) looks at complaints about councils and some other authorities and organisations, including education admissions appeal panels and adult social care providers, such as care homes and home care providers.

According to figures released this week as part of an annual report, the majority of locally-sent complaints related to education, adult services and environmental issues.

However, some of the 74 records 32 per cent higher than last year’s 56 related to benefits, highways, planning and housing matters and 80 per cent of those were upheld.

The LGSCO is the last stage of the complaints process for residents who have given the council or provider an opportunity to resolve the issue first.

Amerdeep Clarke, from the LGSCO, said: “The scale of demand on our service this year should give every local authority pause for thought.

“The number of complaints we received this year has risen significantly and more sharply than at any time over the past ten years.

“Last year we saw a 16 per cent increase in the number of complaints we received.

“This year that figured has more than doubled to 33 per cent.

“That increase is not concentrated in one area, it is consistent across all services.

“This is not a picture unique to local government.

“There are rising demands across all UK public sector ombudsman bodies and we are witnessing a broader crisis of public confidence in public services.

“When people cannot get the help they need, and feel they have no other recourse, they come to us.

“That so many are doing so tells us something important it speaks not just about individual service failures, but about the gap between what

residents expect and what they are receiving.

“The picture painted by the complaints we deal with is consistent and concerning.

“In special educational needs services, in housing, and in adult social

care, we are seeing the consequences of systems under sustained and

serious strain.

“I recognise that local authorities are operating in genuinely difficult circumstances, with constrained resources, stretched workforces and rising demand.

“The problems documented here are serious but they are not insurmountable and the opportunity to address them, at pace and at scale, has rarely been greater.”

Councillor Martin Bancroft, cabinet spokesperson for core services said: “In 2025/26, the ombudsman received 74 complaints about Barnsley Council, compared to 56 in 2024/25.

“While overall contacts increased, the number of cases investigated by the ombudsman reduced significantly, from 13 to five.

“Four out of five investigated cases were upheld, giving an uphold rate of 80 per cent, below the 83 per cent average for similar authorities.

“In 2024/25, nine of 13 cases were upheld, a rate of 69 per cent.

“The council inform all customers of their right to approach the ombudsman following the completion of the complaints process.

“The reduction in investigations reflects that most contacts did not require formal investigation.

“We remain committed to learning from complaints and improving services for residents.”