THURROCK Council's ability to deal with complaints against it comes in for criticism in a report to be considered by the authority's audit committee next week.

Overall, the number of complaints received for the reporting period is 1,933. For the same period last year, the figure was 2,318, a decrease of 385.

However, there are some critical statistics. Overall performance slipped, with the proportion answered on time falling from 90 per cent to 83 per cent.

The report will have landed heavily on the desk of two senior officers, Daniel Fenwick, the Executive Director of Corporate Services who earns more than £160,000 a year and Paul Day, the £120,000 a year Director of Digital and Transactional Services, whose departments were given stringent directives to improve services in the Best Value Inspection Report compiled by government installed commissioners after the council slumped into intervention four years ago.

However, commissioners have declined to comment on the statistics put before the audit committee. But its members will be told 'managers had reminded staff of the importance of keeping applicants updated on their cases and ensuring files are promptly reassigned when employees leave the authority, helping to prevent cases from stalling'.

No individuals are held to account though claims of poor leadership and a lack of direction regularly seep out from officer sources within the council, who are concerned about a senior leadership team that has rocketed in numbers and cost to the public purse. At least 142 managers now earn more than £70,000 a year.

Complaints about the housing department and special education needs (SEND) departments have reached near systemic levels.

In the case of housing, the report comes just weeks after praise was showered on members of Thurrock Council's housing solutions team.

Earlier this month the council issued a release praising the work of its Housing Solutions team - which deals with many of the issues brought to the audit committee's attention.

The work of the team was described as 'a particularly significant milestone' and the release was followed up by senior director Clair Demmel heaping praise on staff.

However, members of the council's audit committee will be briefed next week on how Thurrock Council's housing service missed more than 220 response deadlines last year as demand linked to homelessness and housing applications continued to rise.

Figures from the council's annual corporate complaints report show Housing Solutions failed to meet target response times for 222 enquiries during 2025/26, including complaints from residents as well as enquiries from councillors and MPs.

The service responded to 211 complaints during the year, up from 164 the previous year. However, only 137 were answered within the council's 10-working-day target, leaving 74 responses overdue.

According to the report, many residents were seeking help with homelessness applications, housing allocation lists and ongoing housing cases. Complaints frequently centred on a lack of communication, delays in receiving updates and uncertainty over the progress of applications.

Other recurring concerns included lengthy waits for social housing, problems relating to temporary accommodation and questions over the suitability of housing provided.

The service struggled to respond to enquiries from elected representatives on time, missing deadlines on 75 councillor enquiries and 73 MP enquiries.

Complaint volumes increased throughout the year, with Housing Solutions recording its busiest quarter between January and March when officers dealt with 69 complaints, compared with 42 in the previous three months.

More than a quarter of complaints against the service were upheld, with the report showing 28 per cent were found to have merit.

Much criticism is also aimed at children's services, which were acclaimed as 'outstanding' in an Ofsted inspection less than two years ago. SEND services are particularly targeted with the report detailing how half of all SEND complaints made to Thurrock Council last year were not answered on time.

The report going to the audit committee about SEND was not entirely unexpected.

In July this year Thurrock Nub News reported the service had failed special needs statements target by half. That report tells how another highly-paid senior director, Michele Lucas, sitting alongside the £170,000 a year director of children's services, Sheila Murphy, told councillors on the Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee that 'were not working within those statutory timeframes for both educational healthcare plans and annual review'.

Ms Lucas pointed a finger of blame on the high turnover of staff – which reflects the high-level of 'churn' among middle-ranking officers.

The authority received a sharp rise in complaints relating to (SEND during 2025/26, but responded within the required timescale to just 57 of the 106 cases received.

That means 49 SEND complaints missed response deadlines, with the area accounting for more than half of all late responses within Children's Services.

The figures represent a significant deterioration on the previous year, when the council received 55 SEND complaints and responded to 89 per cent of them on time.

Next week councillors will be told SEND, school admissions and home-to-school transport are significant problem areas where responses have been delayed.

Parents' complaints most commonly related to delays in handling Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), difficulties securing suitable school placements and poor communication from council officers.

The report comes after a December 2025 inspection found the timeliness and quality of EHCPs and annual reviews were inconsistent, with the council responsible for managing more than 3,000 plans.

SEND issues also generated 34 enquiries from MPs during the year, of which only 22 received a response within the council's target timeframe. Nine of 12 SEND-related enquiries from councillors were answered on time.

In response, the council said it has increased staff training and created a dedicated team to oversee EHCPs and Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) packages.

The findings will be discussed by the audit committee on Monday, 5 October.