A LOCAL government watchdog received nearly 60 complaints about Bury Council last year.

Of the 57 complaints made by disgruntled residents between March 2016 and March 2017, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman took 14 into a detailed investigation.

This was one fewer than the previous year, when 15 detailed investigations into the council’s actions were launched after the ombudsman received 53 complaints.

Last year, six of the 14 complaints were upheld — an increase from five between 2015 and 2016.

A Bury Council spokesman said: “We take any complaints against the council seriously, and try to resolve them wherever we can. We have a comprehensive complaints system in place for people to use if they are unhappy about any aspect of the services we provide.

“We have remedied those complaints in accordance with the ombudsman’s recommendations.

“There are 187,000 residents in Bury and many thousands of them rely every day on services we provide.

“We strive to get it right, but inevitably there will be some occasions when we don’t.

“The ombudsman’s report is an important way we can learn from mistakes and improve our services.” The watchdog investigates complaints about all local authorities and social care providers in England. Every year it publishes the information it sends to councils. Michael King, from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Our annual data release is a great opportunity for the public, councillors and council officers to gauge how their local authority responds to, and learns from, the complaints we receive.”