The Labour Government has announced a review into how customers of local councils can gain redress when council services don't meet expectations.

The review team leading this work includes customer service expertise from Tesco and the National Consumer Council and they will make sure that when people use council services they are treated as consumers - who know their rights if commitments are not kept or services fall short.

This review is part of a wider drive to put communities in control and give people a greater influence over how local services are delivered in their area. The challenge for councils is to meet high customer care expectations, and recognise that dealing with problems is an equal if not greater test of their ability to deliver excellent services for their local communities.

Labour’s Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:

"There have been tangible improvements in the standard of council services over the past 10 years. Yet consumer expectations also continue to rise. The new challenge for councils is to deliver better community engagement and a real increase in levels of customer satisfaction.

"Councils need to put people at the heart of service delivery, and take complaints seriously. Where things go wrong, people should be able to expect swift and fair redress. Getting this approach right should also help ensure that there is less need for redress going forward."