Merton Council has experienced a significant 39% surge in formal complaints during the 2025/26 financial year, logging 1,450 compared to 1,062 in the previous year. Of these, 638 (44%) were upheld.

While an increase in complaints related to Council Tax billing, homelessness, parking, and refuse collections, alongside the challenging economy impacting residents' financial situations, are contributing factors, a growing concern is the rise in AI-generated complaints. These are often complex and lengthy, making it difficult for council officers to ascertain the core issues.

A bar chart illustrating the distribution of audit opinions across different types of entities.
Audit opinions distribution

Sharon Evans, Director of Governance and Civic Services, presented the Corporate Complaints Report to the Governance Standards and Audit Committee, highlighting the challenges posed by AI-generated complaints. When officers attempt to drill down to some of the detail and try to work out what the complainant is actually complaining about, it becomes very, very difficult, she explained. This complexity often extends to the complainants themselves, who are frequently unsure themselves when asked for clarification.

Councillor Angela Paul raised concerns about this trend and suggested exploring AI solutions to manage the influx. Ms Evans acknowledged the issue, noting that some councils are already testing AI to address AI-generated complaints. She also confirmed that Merton Council is exploring technological solutions for managing complaints, including Freedom of Information (FOI) and Subject Access Request (SAR) requests.

A bar chart showing that councils in Quartile 4 were 10 times more likely to have Value for Money Findings than Quartile 1.
Value for Money Findings by Council Quartile

While the meeting did not detail a specific strategy for distinguishing between human-generated and AI-generated complaints, the difficulty in extracting clear information from AI-generated submissions serves as a key indicator. The council's approach to managing these complaints involves asking for redrafts if a complaint is unclear and heavily suggest[ing] that AI isn't used. However, there is a potential ethical implication: rejecting a complaint solely on the basis of AI use could lead to legal challenges if the underlying issue is legitimate.

Despite the challenges, Merton Council is committed to addressing the root causes of upheld complaints. Ms Evans stated, one of the requirements is that we have to learn from our mistakes and we have to learn from where we've gone wrong. The council is investing significant effort and training to improve this process, with quarterly reviews and enhanced information sharing across directorates to identify and address trends.

In total, 384 compliments were received across all directorates, an increase from 319 in the previous year.

Further details on the council's governance and audit can be found in the Public reports pack for the Governance Standards and Audit Committee meeting.