Agenda and minutes

Agreed as an accurate record.

To confirm the items of business marked Part I will be considered in public and that items marked Part II will be considered in private.

For this meeting, the Committee was provided with evidence from Richard Shaw, an Investigator for the Local Government Ombudsman Office.

The Committee was provided with a summary of the key components of a good complaints procedure:-

·         To enable residents to make officers and the Council accountable

·         Where complaints have been justified, to enable Councils to address poor working practice and to improve services

·         To have a clear and transparent process which enables a quick resolution to residents' complaints

·         Dealing quickly with a complaint for the benefit of a complainant

·         The less stages of a complaints process would eliminate repetitiveness and bring about a quicker resolution

·         Service requests and appeals should be dealt with separately and outside the complaints process

·         The focus should be on resolving complaints at the earliest opportunity

·         There should be consideration given to the costs of dealing with complaints

·         The key focus should be on customer care and customer satisfaction for residents

·         A complaints process needs to be understood and publicised and accessible for residents

·         There should be a common procedure to cover contractors

·         Managers should be made responsible for dealing with complaints and should be empowered to proactively resolve complaints

·         Managers should be given discretionary powers to remedy failures and to make apologies to complainants where necessary

·         Officers should be given discretionary powers to offer compensation to remedy a failure

·         Failures which have been highlighted by a complaint provided an opportunity to make improvements to services

·         Regarding Council policy - caveats should be contained in complaints procedures which clearly stated that a complaint about Council policy which had been correctly applied should not be taken through the complaints procedure. Complaints could be advised to submit their complaint direct to the Local Government Ombudsman

·         Directors should have sight and knowledge of complaints

Discussion took place on aspects of the evidence provided and reference was made to the various complaints which the Council received in relation to the Housing Allocation Policy and Housing Benefit and Council Tax decisions. Members were informed that complaints should still be considered regarding the application of policies, but not the actual policy itself. The importance was stressed of officers ensuring they correctly applied policies.

Members were informed that these complaints did escalate through the present complaints procedure, but if changes were made to the complaints procedure, these types of complaints could be resolved at Stage 1 or be referred direct to the Ombudsman.

The LGO Investigator confirmed that complaints had to have gone through at least one stage of a local authority complaints procedure before being considered by the LGO.

The communication of Council policies was important and these should be clearly pointed out to residents. Relevant policies and the rules relating to Housing Benefit and Council Tax should be explained to complainants to ensure they understand the reasoning behind the decisions taken which have resulted in the complaint.

As previously mentioned at an earlier witness session, the Committee was informed that extra training would be provided for officers to enable a greater  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

The Committee was provided with a report which provided details on the Members Enquiries process, together with statistics of Members Enquiries received across the Council's service areas for 2012/2013 and 2013/2014.

The Customer Liaison Manager for Residents Services attended the meeting and gave an overview of the process. A Member Enquiry (ME) was a question which a Councillor wanted answered on behalf of residents or other local organisations.

The Members Liaison Officers within both Residents Services and Administration and Finance, dealt with such queries and provided an efficient link for this, ensuring all Members' Enquiries were logged, processed and progressed with Lead Officers to guarantee a response within a dedicated timescale of 10 working days.

Members agreed that the service provided was a very useful resource and enabled Members to provide guidance and advice to their constituents.

The success of the service was highlighted by the increased usage over the last two years:-

Discussion took place on the process and Members expressed their appreciation at the efforts of the Member Liaison Officers. Officers were asked that, where possible, Members Enquiries responses sent to Members, be also copied to the resident concerned.

RESOLVED –

1.  That the report and the presentation given be noted and officers be thanked for the excellent service given to Members on behalf of residents.

Noted. Members asked that the scheduled next meeting of the Committee be re-arranged.

Noted.