There has been a 34 per cent increase in the number of complaints made to Perth and Kinross Council.
However the sharp increase in 2021/22 follows a year impacted by COVID disruption.
The number of complaints in 2021/22 - while 34 per cent higher than 2020/21 - is 19 per cent lower than the number recorded in the largely pre-pandemic 2019/2020.
A report by Perth and Kinross Council's head of Legal Governance Service Lisa Simpson on PKC's complaints performance in 2021/22 revealed PKC had recorded 1784 complaints. This compares to 1328 in 2020/21.
When the report was put before PKC's Scrutiny and Performance Committee on November 30, 2022 Conservative councillor Caroline Shiers remarked on how the nature of complaining had changed and asked how the council was reacting to this.
The Blairgowrie and Glens councillor said: "Folk will now take to the council's Facebook page which I know the team monitor and respond to.
"I just wonder how we manage that in the future?"
She noted a "generational" change from a formal letter to messaging on Facebook but added: "Although the nature by which people complain has changed that doesn't mean the nature by which people expect a response has changed."
PKC's head of Legal Lisa Simpson said a "significant piece of work" had been done to ensure "if it looks like a complaint and sounds like a complaint - irrespective of how we get that information whether it be a phone call, email, a form - we have encouraged that to be processed through the complaints handling process so as we can capture that to take account of that very issue".
Liberal Democrat councillor Willie Robertson asked if the council had "learnt from the complaints it received" to improve things to avoid further complaints.
PKC's chief internal auditor Jackie Clark assured Cllr Robertson: "Yes, we do review complaints."
SNP councillor Ian Massie asked about the financial implications of complaints and if monetary compensation was given "as a goodwill gesture for inconvenience and stress to the complainers".
Ms Simpson said: "That's not part of the complaints handling policy. There may be the odd occasion where something is particularly extreme that warrants some sort of recompense but there is no incentive to make a complaint and no compensation attached as part of the complaints handling process."
The committee noted the current procedure as being "adequate and effective".
PKC's Complaints Handling Procedure will continue to be monitored and reviewed throughout the year and work undertaken to further improve performance.
