Southend Council took 411 complaints between April and June, against 292 a year earlier and 148 in 2024. 85% were about environment and place services.

Southend-on-Sea City Council received 411 complaints between April and June 2026. That is up from 292 in the same three months of 2025, and from 148 in the same three months of 2024. 85% of them were about Environment and Place, the directorate that runs bins, streets, parks and highways (Corporate Performance Report, Quarter 1 2026/27, Southend-on-Sea City Council).

The council answered 371 of the 440 complaints it closed in the quarter within its own deadline. That is 84.32%, just under the 85% target, and the measure is rated amber. The report says the volume is “placing a significant pressure on this service”.

Complaints received by Southend-on-Sea City Council, April to June Bar chart. Complaints received in the April to June quarter: 148 in 2024, 292 in 2025, 411 in 2026. Complaints to the council, April to June Number received in the first quarter of each financial year 148 2024 292 2025 411 2026 Source: Southend-on-Sea City Council, Corporate Performance Report Quarter 1 2026/27, measure CP04.04 Graphic by Southend Today

The scorecard: 17 green, 8 amber, 5 red

The complaints figure sits inside the council’s quarterly performance report, which scores 31 measures against target. Seventeen met target, eight came within 5% of it, five missed by more than 5%, and one is not rated at this point in the year.

The five rated red:

  • NHS Health Checks: 939 done, against a target of 1,184. The council commissions the programme. It says a push on invitations in June should lift July and August back to target.
  • Children in care: 80.8 per 10,000 under-18s, against a target below 75. That is 322 children at the end of June. The rate is falling, from 81.5 in April and May. Seventeen children became looked after in the quarter and 18 left care.
  • Under-4s in the most deprived areas taking part in pre-school activity or education: 80.5%, against 85%.
  • Council spend with local businesses: 40.06%, against 45%. That is £27,992,621 across 1,272 suppliers in the area covered by the planned new South East Essex Council. The Southend-only share, 33.30%, is up on last year’s 31.35%.
  • Councillor training: 55% complete, against 80%. The four courses counted are data protection, information and cyber security, safeguarding awareness and fraud awareness. Completion fell 20 points in the new municipal year, which the council puts down to refresher deadlines resetting and members changing.

What is working

Several of the services residents deal with most came in green:

  • 99.93% of bin collections ran on schedule. There were 3,148,020 collections booked in the quarter and 0.07% were reported as missed. If yours is one of them, our Southend bin collection days page has the reporting route.
  • 100% of pothole repairs that met the intervention threshold were done within 28 days, the same as the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.
  • 947 highway safety inspections were carried out, all on time.
  • 71% of households at risk of homelessness were kept housed. Of 113 households that approached the Housing Solutions Team, 80 stayed in their home or moved to a settled one. The target was 55%.
  • 97.24% of the 38,907 MySouthend cases raised were progressed within 20 working days.
  • Freedom of Information requests: 90.77% answered on time, from 385 received, just over the Information Commissioner’s 90% requirement.
  • 408,139 visits to council-run cultural and leisure venues, including the pier, museums and libraries, against a target of 382,500.

The ambers include recycling at the council’s household waste recycling centres, at 59.4% against a 62% target, though that is up sharply from 45.67% the previous quarter and the figure is unaudited. Ten council homes had fallen out of date for their annual gas safety check and 14 still need an electrical condition report, both because of access problems. One family with children had been in bed and breakfast for more than six weeks at the quarter end, against a target of none; the council says a hostel room was delayed and the family has since moved.

Business rates collection was 29.5% against a 29.7% target, which the council attributes to billing problems caused by legislation changes at the start of the year. Council tax collection hit its 27.1% target.

One measure, tree net gain, is not rated. Planting runs from November to March, so the figure is only counted at the end of the season. Last year’s net gain was 539 against a target of more than 500.

What it means for you

If you want to complain, the general process has two stages and published deadlines:

  • Stage 1 is investigated by a team or service manager. You should usually get a reply within 15 working days, extendable by 10 for complex cases, and you should be told inside the first 15 days if it is being extended.
  • Stage 2 is investigated by a head of service or director, with a reply usually within 25 working days, extendable by 20.
  • If you are still unhappy after both stages, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review it (Southend-on-Sea City Council).

Several things do not go through that route and have their own process: children’s services, adult social care, Blue Badge assessments, school admissions, exclusions and transport, housing benefit and council tax, homelessness, councillor conduct, parking and traffic offences, South Essex Homes, and decisions about which bin or sack you are allocated. Parking penalties in particular have their own appeal route, covered in our guide to parking in Southend.

The performance report goes to the Policy and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee at 6.30pm on 2 September, alongside the council’s finances (agenda). Members of the public can ask questions at that meeting. The money side of the same agenda is covered in our report on the £13.291m forecast overspend.