A record number of complaints were made about police forces in England and Wales last year, figures from the police watchdog show.

A total of 34,863 complaints were recorded in 2013-14 – up 15% on the previous year – with one in 10 allegations concerning an assault by a police officer.

Complaints against South Yorkshire police, the force criticised last year for its handling of the Cliff Richard raid and the Rotherham child abuse scandal, rose 19% from the previous year, to 459.

It is clear from these statistics that forces still struggle to get it right first time IPCC chair, Dame Anne Owers

The annual report (pdf) by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) shows an increase in complaints at the vast majority of police forces in England and Wales, with 38 forces out of 43 recording a rise.

The total figure of complaints, 34,863 in 2013/14, has fluctuated since 2001 but represents a 52% increase since 2004-05. The vast majority of complaints concern allegations that officers were neglectful or failed in their duty or were incivil, impolite and intolerant.

Some complaints include more than one allegation, for example if someone claimed that a police officer pushed and was rude to them that would be recorded as one complaint with two allegations. The total number of allegations recorded against police forces in 2013-14 was 61,694 – a 10% increase on the previous year . One in 10 of these allegations – 5,925 – related to an alleged assault by a police officer.

One possible reason for the 10% rise in allegations is that the IPCC was able to examine complaints about the “direction and control” of police forces for the first time last year. These equated for 4% of the total allegations recorded.

The Metropolitan police, the UK’s largest force, had the most complaint cases made against it last year, with 7,115, IPCC figures show. It was followed by Greater Manchester police (1,536), West Midlands police (1,473), Devon and Cornwall police (1,364) and Kent police (1,200).

The largest percentage increase in complaint cases, year on year, was recorded by Northumbria police, which went from 401 complaints to 794, a rise of 98%, followed by City of London police, where complaints rose 90% from 123 to 234 between 2012/13 and 2013/14.

Dame Anne Owers, the IPCC chair, said the 15% rise in complaints “would not be a cause for concern if it reflected a greater public confidence in the complaints system or improved access to it. This is unlikely to be the case. The rising number of complaints makes it all the more important that the system is, and is seen to be, fair, accessible and transparent. Better public confidence in policing crucially depends on confidence that, where things may have gone wrong, appropriate action will be taken as soon as possible.

“It is clear from these statistics that forces still struggle to get it right first time, and there are now serious questions about whether they get it right the second time either. We will continue to work with them to improve complaints handling. But that is not enough. We urgently need radical reforms to the system as a whole, to make it more accessible and straightforward, and to strengthen independent oversight. That is why the current review of the system is welcome and overdue.”