Agenda item

The Business Manager for Complaints and Enquiries introduced his report, and informed Members that as a result of a review of the Council's corporate complaints procedure by this committee, it had resulted in significant changes to the way complaints are now being handled. His report would show the impact of these changes, in particular the procedure had been streamlined and fewer complaints were now escalating to stages 2 and 3.

The Committee were informed that for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018:

The number of informal complaints had reduced from 416 in 2016/17 to 222 for 2017/18. The main reason for the reduction in informal complaints recorded was the change in service provider, as the current provider is more effective at answering the questions being asked.

The number of Stage 1 complaints had fallen from 285 for 2016/17 to 243.

The number of Stage 2 complaints had also fallen from 40 in 2016/17 to 23 for 2017/18. This was expected, as officers are applying the revised corporate complaints procedure by using their discretion to escalate a complaint direct from Stages 1 and/or 2 to the Ombudsman.

There were no Stage 3 complaints recorded for 2017/18.

The number of complaints investigated by the Ombudsman for 2017/18 was ten. The Committee can have some reassurance that the implementation of the change in the complaint procedure had not resulted in a deterioration of performance.

Councillors heard that 8,502 Members Enquiries were received for 2017/18, and the year before it was 9,185. This change was largely due to the way that enquiries were recorded, with multiple enquiries received on the same issue classed as one enquiry.

The Committee heard that four compliments were received, but was informed that this could be due to the fact that the recording of compliments is not promoted as well as it should be. Members were informed that an article would be appearing in the Council's All Staff E-mail to encourage officers to send their compliments to the Complaints and Enquiries Team so that they can be better recorded.

Members commented that the impact of the Committee’s review into the complaints procedure has led to clear improvements, and stated that the statistics showed that the Council dealt with complaints efficiently. Councillors also noted that there were probably many more compliments received but these were not recorded.

Responding to questioning from the Committee, the Business Manager for Complaints and Enquiries confirmed that when a complaint is received and dealt with informally, the Council aim to reply within two or three working days. If a complaint is registered as a formal complaint, it is acknowledged within two working days and the complainant is then informed who will respond and when they can expect to receive their response.

Councillors were also informed that, where the Council were deemed to be at fault and a complaint upheld, the organisation will complete a “learning memo”, report the result of the complaint to Senior Managers in the relevant service area, and the Council can then follow-up on this to ensure services are improved.

RESOLVED: That the Annual Complaint Report for Corporate Services be noted.