There has been a “noticeable rise” in complaints made to the ombudsman relating to social services provided by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
In her annual letter to Stuart Rosser, the council’s chief executive, the acting Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said the most common complaint related to housing, while complaints regarding health and social services rose.
Professor Margaret Griffiths said: “This suggests that service user discontent with social service provision is now beginning to manifest itself in a similar way to service users of health provision.
“This growth is clearly a matter of concern, and I would urge local authorities to monitor trends in the complaints made to them in this area of service delivery.”
Although health complaints rose, the majority of them related to clinical procedures relating to the health board.
However, the ombudsman did warn that some related to local authorities, including lack of action to facilitate disabilities such as blindness.
The overall number of complaints for Caerphilly received in 2013/14 was less than the year before and on the whole was below average compared to other local authorities.
However, the ombudsman received an above average number of complaints relating to housing but a drop in the number of planning complaints.
This year there were six complaints relating to social services, up from four last year, and nine relating to housing. Overall there were 32 complaints to the ombudsman, with two taken into investigation.
A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “While the council acknowledges there has been an increase in complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales about social services, it is important to note that the level of these complaints is still below the Wales average.
“Nevertheless, new robust procedures for social services across Wales have been put in place to report issues and the council will continue to work hard to make further improvements in this area.”