Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Complaints and Customer Manager

6.1      Siobhan Coldwell, Chief of Staff, introduced a report that set out the Council’s Annual Complaints Review for 2016 - 17.  The report summarised the Council’s complaints performance (Complaint stages 1 and 2) and those complaints received by the Local Government Ombudsmen (LGO).  The report also contained, as an appendix, a copy of the Local Government Ombudsman Annual Letter/Review for the year ending 31 March 2017.

6.2      Information used to compile the 2016/17 annual report had largely come from the new complaints database. The procedure covers most Council services. However, Adults and Children’s Social Care Services each have their own separate statutory complaints procedure and as such separate reports are produced. CityWest Homes has been operating its own complaints procedure since 1 April 2012 and produces an annual complaints report. This is the first time the Council has had a complete corporate overview of all complaints across all stages as previously information was stored on various systems. However, as use of the new database was phased in there was a small amount of data on other separate systems. Additionally Parking Services did not start using this system until March 2017, therefore their information was reported separately.

6.3      The Committee noted the headline findings which included that there was an overall decrease in complaints across both stages when compared with 2015/16 (down 25% from 1048 to 837), and that there were no serious service failures discovered at stage 2. When reviewing the performance relating to stage 1 response times (10 working days) the committee noted the variances between service areas in responding in the target response time. The team with the slowest response time has now turned its poor performance around and reports run for the first and second quarter of the current year indicate all complaints from this team has met the target response time.

6.4      The LGO made no specific comments about the Council’s performance, and the Annual Complaints Review has reported that no formal public reports were issued against the Council.

6.5       Members questioned whether a standard 10-day response time to all complaints is appropriate and whether there should be a differential response time depending on risk. The committee also recognised that some complaints may be easier to respond to in a short timeframe while others are more complex and require additional information and input from other parts of the Council. The committee would like to see the incorporation of some risk rating within future reports.

6.6       In respect of complaint outcomes, the committee noted that there had been a decrease in the number of upheld complaints from the previous year. However, in the absence of a benchmark the committee was unable to tell whether this figure is good or bad. Siobhan Coldwell stated that compared to other local authorities the performance was good. She further advised that there were some areas where the Council could be definitive such as comparing complaints against contract performance.

6.7       The Committee asked how the complaints data can be used to address performance. The Chief of Staff stated that over time complaints data could be incorporated with performance monitoring information into a single report.

6.8       ACTION:

1.    The committee would like information on complaints for Adults and Children Social Services and CityWest Homes which are not dealt with through the Council’s complaints procedure as well as any complaints forwarded to the housing ombudsman.

2.    The committee also requested specific detail on complaints within certain service areas as follow:

(i)            The 8 complaints with allegations of incorrect charges which were all upheld; were they all within the same service?

(ii)          within highways infrastructure and public realm and campaigns and engagement;

(iii)         The complaint about staff rudeness or inappropriate behaviour which was upheld;

(iv)         How many of the Housing Benefit complaints are explicit complaints versus queries about how an application is proceeding?

(Action for:  Sue Howell, Complaints and Customer Manager)