BOURNEMOUTH, Christchurch and Poole Council was the subject of more than 100 complaints and enquiries to the ombudsman about its actions last year, new figures show.

According to figures from the body, there were 105 complaints or enquiries made about Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council in the year to March, up from 98 the year before.

After investigation, the ombudsman found the council to have acted unjustly on 22 occasions last year.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is responsible for investigating wrongdoing in local public services.

If it finds that the council has acted in an unfair or unjust way, the ombudsman will offer recommendations on how to make things right.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said that while councils act on nearly every recommendation they are given, uptake can be slow, with one in five failing to take them on within the allocated time frame.

A BCP Spokesperson said: "We are taking the Ombudsman’s feedback very seriously and are looking at how we can improve in the areas identified. We will be taking a paper to Cabinet in October in response to this report.

"BCP Council will continue to review the learning from determined complaints and will continue to take steps to improve our systems and procedures to avoid our residents having to complain to the Ombudsman if we get things wrong."

The most common reason for coming to the ombudsman in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole was for issues related to adult social care, with 23 complaints or enquiries.

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “The LGSCO determined six complaints relating to Adult Social Care during 2021/22.

"An Adult Social Care complaints report, which will include the learning from customer feedback will be taken to the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee later this year."

The number of issues raised about the sector rose from 1,670 in 2020-21 to 2,139 in the year to March, including 23 in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Healthwatch England, a health and social care champion, said they were particularly concerned about the national rise in complaints about adult social care, suggesting that financial pressures may be to blame.

Jacob Lant, the charity's head of policy, said: “At the heart of every one of these complaints is someone who relies on social care to help them live their lives, and by speaking up these people and their carers have tried to send a message about how services are not meeting their needs."