Boroughs receiving more complaints are actually doing a greater service to their residents
The London borough that receives the highest rate of complaints is Southwark. Freedom of Information requests sent to all 32 boroughs revealed that the area which hosts the Mayor of London’s office, The Shard and Borough Market received the most number of dissatisfied comments in 2018 – but that may actually be something to commend.
Southwark received 9,388 complaints in the year 2018, significantly higher than the second placed borough, Enfield, which received 6,954. Looking at the figures per capita, Southwark received almost 30 complaints per 1,000 people, while runners up Ealing and Barking received roughly 20. The least dissatisfied borough, according to the numbers received, is Kensington and Chelsea, where there were only 0.97 complaints per capita in 2018. However, this is not something for which Kensington should necessarily be commended.
On initial analysis of these numbers, the temptation is to suggest that the wide variance between boroughs is down to the residents’ social demographics. Southwark has the largest proportion of social housing among the London boroughs[1], and 63 per cent of the complaints received were in regard to that department. In Kensington, less than a quarter of the population lives in social housing[2], and only 31 per cent of its complaints were for that department, while 55 per cent were regarding noise and nuisance.
However, looking at the boroughs’ social media strategies reveals a clearer reason for the disparity between the numbers of complaints. Southwark actively engages with disgruntled residents, replying to them with the appropriate link to register their concern. On the other hand, Kensington and Chelsea’s Twitter account rarely interacts with residents, and does not link them to its online complaints form.
Southwark is “digital by default throughout the council”, according to Kim Hooper, the borough’s senior media and digital officer. She adds: “Social media in particular we see as a good way to communicate with our residents as much as we can. We can’t always reply to everyone, but if we absolutely can we reply and help people.”
Regarding Southwark’s use of Twitter, linking dissatisfied residents directly to the correct complaints form, Ms Hooper says: “For example, if there’s a complaint about a missing bin collection, it’s much quicker and easier for it to be dealt with if they report it online via the right form, it means that it goes to the right people immediately rather than just hoping we happen to see it on our Twitter feed and report it, and then they can give their details. So it’s just a way of making sure that people are pointed to the right pages on the website, which are set up there for them to use.”
This goes some way to explaining why Southwark received 74 times more combined complaints and compliments than Kensington in 2018. This is a trend throughout: where a borough is more engaged with its residents on social media, it receives more complaints. For example, Ealing interacts with people on social media, and received 6,954 complaints in 2018, while Hounslow, which does not interact with people on social media, only received 385. In between these two polarities are boroughs like Havering, Redbridge and Croydon, which employ a strategy of replying to complaints on Twitter, but only to say that it will be reported to the relevant department, or suggesting whom they should contact – they do not provide direct links, as Southwark does.
The way that London’s boroughs use social media is still in relatively nascent stages, with no set guidance and much to be worked out in terms of the best way to use it to aid residents. At the moment, each is employing a different strategy to lesser or greater success. For example, Croydon has set up a specific @ContactCroydon Twitter account for dealing with complaints, but it has fewer than 500 followers and seems redundant when it already has over 19,000 followers on its main account. A more positive action can be seen in Ealing, which has responded to the fact that 75 per cent of its complaints received in 2018 were regarding ‘streets and environmental’ by creating a Facebook page specifically for communicating with its waste collection department.
However, perhaps it is the simply effective way that Southwark uses social media, pointing complainers directly to the correct complaints form, that works best – after all, they received the highest number of compliments as well as complaints. Social media seems to be becoming a more common way for residents to register their dissatisfaction, and boroughs could take note of the way that Southwark and Ealing use their official borough accounts. They may have a higher number of complaints, but they are also ensuring that all of them are heard and dealt with by the relevant department.
