County's social services complaints on the rise

The number of complaints to a county's social services department has risen in the space of a year.

Complaints to Powys's children's services went up from 109 in 2024-25 to 147 in 2025-26, but complains to adult services dropped from 96 to 87.

During a report presented to the health and care scrutiny committee on Wednesday, director of social services Nina Davies said no cases had been referred to the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales for re-investigation.

The main causes for complaints were communication issues, failures to carry out agreed actions or services, and financial matters relating to matter such as care contributions.

The report shows that in total 234 complaints were received for 2025/2026, which compares to 205 in 2024/2025.

Figures also showed that compliments given to social services fell from 249 to 209.

Davies said: "The report clearly shows there are areas for improvement."

She added that the council had seen an increase in the complexity of complaints, making them harder to respond to in a timely manner, but there was an action plan in place, focusing on stabilising the complaints service.

Conservative councillor Amanda Jenner asked for some members to be allowed to meet the complaints team during the next year.

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