The Assembly government received over 600 complaints of maladministration or failure to provide a service during the last five years, according to figures obtained by the Welsh Conservatives.
The Department for Economy and Transport received 85 complaints during that period alone (including ‘06/’07, when it was labelled differently).
In all, 637 cases were dealt with by WAG’s Complaints Unit, between 2004/05 and 2009/10.
The largest number of complaints during any one financial year was received by the Sustainable Futures Department. During 2009/10, it received 53 complaints relating to maladministration and 22 of failure to provide a service.
2009/10 saw the highest number of these complaints overall – at 130.
The statistics have been released to Shadow Minister for Economy and Transport Darren Millar AM, following Written Assembly Questions.
He said: “The rising number of complaints against the Assembly Government suggests that the people of Wales are increasingly unhappy with the way our country is being run by Labour and Plaid.
“Not only have we seen over 500 complaints relating to maladministration in the past 5 years, but many of these relate to the Department for Economy and Transport, which is currently the subject of trench warfare within the Labour-Plaid Coalition.
“Instead of rowing over who is responsible for the poor performance of the department in recent years, the Deputy First Minister should work harder to drive the Welsh economy forward, create jobs and support businesses which are struggling due to Labour’s economic downturn.
“These complaints clearly show that the Welsh Assembly Government must work harder to improve satisfaction with public services in Wales.”
