Public Sector Complaints in the UK Part 2: Technology, Compliance & Culture

In part 1 of this review of the complaints sector in 2025 we took an in-depth look into the all-time high of complaints volumes and the particular issues facing sectors such as housing, education and social care. In this instalment we review how technology and AI are affecting the way cases are managed, then we look at the challenges raised by the need for compliance with targets and finish by investigating the environment which employees in complaint handling roles are facing.

Technology & AI In Case Management

If volume is the challenge of 2025, technology is the industry’s primary response. The year 2025 marks the transition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced Case Management Systems (CMS) from experimental pilots to core infrastructure.

AI Use Cases in Complaint Handling

The UK government’s "AI Playbook" and the emergence of specific public sector use cases signal that AI is now "business as usual" for forward-thinking organisations. The industry is moving away from generic chatbots towards specialised AI tools integrated directly into the case management workflow.

Intelligent Triage and Demand Deflection

The most successful deployments of AI focus on the point of entry. AI can be used to recognise when a request can be answered immediately using trusted sources (e.g., "When is my bin collection?"), preventing simple requests from becoming formal cases. This "demand deflection" is critical for sustainability. By surfacing answers instantly, an AI based system can improve the "right first time" metric and reserves human caseworker capacity for genuine disputes.

Automated Redaction and Compliance

One of the most labor-intensive aspects of complaint handling, particularly in Children’s Services and Subject Access Requests (SARs), is the redaction of sensitive personal data. In 2025, AI-driven redaction has become standard practice. Tools that can find personal data automatically and remove it will save thousands of hours of manual work and significantly reduce the risk of GDPR breaches. 

Predictive Analytics and Risk Profiling

In the NHS, NHS Resolution is pioneering the use of machine learning to analyse historic data to "create a risk profile for individual trusts" and "predict the volume of incidents that lead to a claim". This represents a shift from reactive complaint handling to proactive risk management. By identifying "pre-complaint" signals—such as a cluster of safety incidents in a maternity unit—the system allows for intervention before harm occurs. Similarly, NLP (Natural Language Processing) is being used to moderate reviews and identify safety issues in real-time on NHS digital platforms.

The Case Management System (CMS) as Regulatory Infrastructure

In 2025, the Case Management System (CMS) is no longer just a database; it is the "regulatory brain" of the organisation. The complexity of the statutory codes means that reliance on spreadsheets or generic CRMs is now a compliance risk.

Enforcing the Code through Workflow

Modern CMS platforms like Workpro are designed to enforce the regulatory pathway.

• Validation Logic: Workpro’s case studies illustrate how the system mirrors the Housing Ombudsman Service’s approach to casework, using validation to ensure that a case cannot be closed until specific criteria (e.g. a remedial action plan) are met.
• Statutory Timers: With strict 10-day and 20-day response deadlines mandated by the Housing Ombudsman Code, CMS platforms provide the rigorous "ticking clock" functionality required to manage compliance across thousands of cases. The LGSCO’s own use of Workpro enabled them to complete 78% of cases within three months by prompting action with automated alerts.

The "Single Source of Truth"

The integration of CMS with other enterprise systems is solving the silo problem identified in the severe maladministration reports. By connecting to associated systems such as housing management systems or social care records, the CMS provides a "single view" of the citizen.

• Data Integration: A case study involving Syniti and Workpro highlights the ability to match internal data with external datasets like Companies House. In a complaints context, this capability is vital for tracing ownership in housing complaints or identifying patterns of fraud, providing investigators with a holistic view that manual checks would miss.

The Legal and Ethical Frontier

The integration of AI is not without its perils. Legal experts in 2025 continue to warn of the potential for Judicial Review if AI is used to make decisions that affect citizen rights without proper oversight. The Bridges case (2020) remains a touchstone, reminding public bodies that they cannot outsource their Public Sector Equality Duty to an algorithm.

Consequently, the 2025 model for AI in complaints is assisting humans rather than completely automating the process. AI drafts the response, redacts the file, or suggests the code, but a human caseworker remains the decision-maker. This hybrid approach ensures efficiency while maintaining the "empathy" and "accountability" required by the Ombudsmen.

Performance and Compliance

While technology offers promise, the performance data for 2024-25 reveals a sector still struggling with the basics of timeliness and quality. The gap between the "best in class" and the "struggling" is widening.

Timeliness vs. Quality

A recurring theme in the 2025 data is the tension between meeting statutory timescales (timeliness) and conducting thorough investigations (quality).

• Local Government Disparity: Performance varies wildly. Westminster City Council reported that 81% of Stage 1 complaints were completed within the target response time, surpassing their corporate target of 75%. In contrast, East Sussex County Council reported that 60% of complaints did not receive a response within timescales. This disparity creates a postcode lottery for justice, where a citizen’s experience of redress depends entirely on the operational resilience of their local authority.
• Housing Sector Struggles: The Housing Ombudsman noted that local authorities are "struggling more than other landlords" to provide timely responses. This is likely a reflection of the broader financial crisis in local government, where housing teams are often under-resourced compared to dedicated Housing Associations.

Maladministration and Financial Redress

The high uphold rates (71% in Housing, 85% in Devon LGSCO cases) suggest that when a citizen persists with a complaint and takes it to the Ombudsman, they are usually right. The most common reasons for upholding complaints in 2025 are:

1. Delay: Failure to act within published or statutory timescales.
2. Poor Communication: A failure to keep the citizen informed. The Housing Ombudsman’s report emphasises that poor communication is often a distinct service failure, even if the substantive issue is eventually resolved.
3. Record Keeping: Poor data management leading to lost requests or lack of evidence.

This failure has a financial cost. The Housing Ombudsman ordered over 2,000 findings of reasonable redress in 2024-25, 800 more than the previous year. In a tight fiscal environment, this "cost of failure" is becoming a visible line item that Finance Directors are keen to reduce.

The Learning Deficit

A critical metric for 2025 is "compliance with recommendations." Public bodies generally have high compliance rates with Ombudsman remedies (often 99-100%). However, this compliance is often transactional—paying the compensation, sending the apology.

The deeper challenge is systemic learning. The recurrence of similar complaints (e.g., the repeated failure to manage damp and mould, or the perennial delays in SEND) suggests that while individual cases are resolved, the root causes are not always eradicated. The LGSCO’s focus on "upheld cases per 100,000 residents" is an attempt to benchmark this systemic performance more accurately, moving away from simple volume metrics to a measure of "failure density" within a population.

Workforce, Culture and Whistleblowing

The state of public sector complaints cannot be understood without examining the workforce that handles them. In 2025, the Complaint Handler is a high-stress, high-skill role operating on the frontline of public dissatisfaction.

Staff Wellbeing and Burnout

The Civil Service People Survey 2024 and NHS Staff Survey reveal a workforce under pressure. While engagement scores in some departments have stabilised, bullying and harassment remain persistent issues.

• In the Civil Service, 9% of staff reported being bullied or harassed.
• In the NHS, the physical threat is tangible, with 14.38% of staff experiencing physical violence.

The correlation between staff burnout and poor complaint handling is well-documented. A stressed, fearful caseworker is more likely to make errors, display defensiveness, or miss empathy cues in communication. The "defensive culture" cited by the PHSO is often a mechanism adopted by staff who feel unsupported and besieged.

Whistleblowing as an Internal Complaint

Whistleblowing is effectively the "internal complaint" mechanism of the public sector. 2025 has seen a rise in whistleblowing claims and reports, continuing a trend that saw a 92% increase in tribunal claims between 2015 and 2023.

• The FCA reported over 1,000 new whistleblower reports in 2023/24, a trend extending into 2025.
• Culture of Silence: The fact that these concerns are often raised externally or through tribunals suggests that internal grievance mechanisms are often viewed as unsafe or ineffective by staff.

Legislative pushes, such as the proposed independent Office of the Whistleblower, aim to strengthen protections. This reflects a recognition that internal silence leads to external crisis—whether that be a patient safety scandal or a financial irregularity. A healthy complaints culture for the public (external) is impossible without a healthy speak-up culture for staff (internal).

Conclusions and Outlook

The state of public sector complaints in the UK in 2025 is characterised by a system that is strained but strengthening.

The strain is undeniable. Record volumes in local government and housing, driven by a perfect storm of social need and statutory empowerment, are testing the resilience of every public body. The "Satisfaction Paradox" reveals that while transactional services are improving through digital transformation, the deep, complex problems that generate formal complaints—housing disrepair, SEND provision, clinical negligence—are becoming harder to resolve.

Yet, the strengthening is also visible. The shift to statutory codes has created a rigorous baseline of professional standards, forcing housing providers and local authorities to professionalise their complaint handling functions. The adoption of AI and advanced Case Management Systems like Workpro is providing the tools to manage volume, enforce compliance, and integrate data. The move from "hiding" complaints to "mining" them for insight—championed by the Ombudsmen—is the correct strategic direction.

Recommendations for Industry Leaders

For public sector leaders in 2025, the path forward requires a strategic pivot:

1. Invest in "Middle Office" Technology: The focus of the last decade has been on "Front Office" (portals) and "Back Office" (databases). The critical gap in 2025 is the "Middle Office"—the AI-assisted workflow that helps the caseworker make the decision, redact the file, and draft the response. Investment here yields the highest return on efficiency.
2. Integrate Data for Vulnerability: The siloed approach to data is a primary cause of severe maladministration. Local authorities and housing providers must integrate complaint data with other vulnerability indicators to identify households at risk of falling through the cracks.
3. Prioritise Culture over Process: Statutory codes ensure the process is right. But only leadership can ensure the culture is right. This means protecting staff from abuse while demanding empathy for the citizen, and viewing complaints not as a metric to be massaged, but as the most valuable intelligence stream for service transformation.

In 2025, the complaint is no longer just a grievance to be dismissed; it is a regulatory trigger, a financial risk, and a vital signal of systemic health. Handling it well is the defining test of administrative competence in the modern state.