THE council was at fault in six of the 16 cases investigated by the national watchdog last year.

Only 38 per cent of complaints investigated by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman were upheld.

This includes one case in which a mother was compensated £1,000 after there was a delay in meeting her child's special education needs.

Other cases where the council was found to be at fault related to complaints about bin collections, care assessments and planning.

Cllr Jane Black, cabinet member for corporate affairs and HR, welcomed the figures which mark an improvement from the previous year when 83 per cent of complaints were upheld.

She said: “We provide a huge range of services to nearly 190,000 people in the borough, the vast majority of which are carried out successfully.

“To have just six complaints upheld after formal investigation is welcome, although we are not complacent, and we have complied fully with all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.

“We recognise that we don’t always get it right, which is why we have an official complaints procedure. This is clearly published on our website and explains in great detail how people can report problems and complaints to us and how we will deal with them.

“We should point out that we also receive a great number of compliments in any year from Bury residents who value the service that they have received.”

The ombudsman looked at 65 decisions relating to Bury Council last year but only 16 resulted in detailed investigations.

Of the remaining 49 complaints, 27 were referred back for local resolution and 20 were closed after initial enquiries.

The local authority successfully implemented all recommendations made by the ombudsman.