A watchdog has published a list showing the Welsh councils that get the most complaints. Over a six-month period the most griped-about council received 24 times more complaints per capita than the one with the lowest rate, according to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
The ombudsman’s data names Cardiff (14.92 complaints per 1,000 residents), Merthyr Tydfil (12.5), and Swansea (11.52) as the councils with the most complaints per capita in the first half of the 2024-25 financial year. At the other end of the scale Isle of Anglesey council received only 21 complaints in total – a rate of just 0.61 complaints per 1,000 people.
Some 37% of the complaints to Wales councils were about waste and refuse, 18% were about housing, and 12% were about social services. More than half of all complaints – 51.7% – were upheld by councils.
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How councils ranked by complaints per capita:
Almost 11,000 complaints in total were logged against councils. The ombudsman said this figure “has grown over recent years” following the implementation of its complaints standards regime in 2019. More than three-quarters of complaints were handled within the target time of 20 working days. “This performance is similar to previous years,” said an ombudsman spokesman.
A total of 707 complaints ended up being referred to the ombudsman, which intervened in 12% of cases. Intervention could mean recommending early resolution, voluntary settlement, or upholding a complaint after an investigation. The ombudsman also released a list of the most complained-about housing associations in Wales, which you can read here.