Compliments in the capital are few and far between, but that could easily be changed

It will likely come as a surprise to nobody that the number of compliments received by London boroughs is dwarfed by the volume of complaints they receive, but the imbalance is much greater than expected.

Freedom of Information requests sent to all of the boroughs revealed that complaints outnumbered compliments by a factor of 92 times on average. In both Ealing and Westminster, less than 1 per cent of the comments received were compliments; Ealing received a mere 15 compliments, but 6,954 complaints – about 465 times as many.

At this point there are still four boroughs – Brent, Croydon, Ealing and Lambeth – which do not have a facility for people to register compliments. While the majority of boroughs do give people the option to pay a compliment, at least seven of them do not keep a record of how many are received, although Hounslow stated that it is something it is “looking to do in the future”.

One borough that is bucking the trend is Bexley, where 37 per cent of the responses received in 2018 were compliments, and it also had the highest rate of compliments per capita at 1.1. This is not something that it has particularly pushed, with John Ferry, head of communications and marketing for Bexley, admitting that they have “[no policies] that would be different from any other local authority in London”. It seems that the borough’s high rate of compliments is more by fluke than design.

Londoners are often characterised as being cold and isolated, and these figures seem to back up this notion. However, if you were to ask a Londoner directly if they were thankful for the services provided by council workers – rubbish collecting, maintaining parks and running libraries, to name a few – the vast majority would express their gratitude. The onus is therefore on the London councils themselves - or the centralised London Councils organisation - to ensure that the public know they can leave compliments for their employees, and encourage them to do so.

In a time when divisions between people seem to be more contentious than ever, and in the wake of a fractious general election, the population as a whole could do with more positivity, and this is one simple way in which it could be propagated. By commissioning more positive feedback, and using their social media to show that it reaches the correct parties, councils could start a positive cycle of compliments that is self-perpetuating. It is a small gesture, but is just what the planet needs at this current moment in history, and London could be a world leader in this.