Minutes:
Jane Clarke, the Head of Policy and Governance, presented a report on: (a) formal complaints received by the Borough Council during 2015/16; (b) the decisions of the Local Government Ombudsman in respect of those complaints which had been escalated to that level during the year; and (c) amendments to the authority’s formal Complaints Policy. The first two elements were for the Committee to discuss and note; the revised Complaints Policy was submitted for the Committee’s endorsement.
Ms Clarke began by saying that a total of 465 formal complaints had been made about Council services during 2015/16; she added that, at 83.5%, the authority had failed to meet its performance target to respond to 94% of complaints within the specified timescale. As a result of that performance outcome, Ms Clarke said that a review of complaints’ handling had been undertaken and it was proposed to reduce the number of stages to two under the Council’s Complaints Procedure.
Ms Clarke also focused on some of the key trends within those services that were the subject of the largest number of complaints, namely from the Parking, Contracts and Planning Services as well as at the Assembly Hall Theatre. She added that, across the full range of complaints, some general lessons could be learnt, from which all services of the Council could benefit; these were set out in the report.
In respect of those complaints which had been referred to the Local Government Ombudsman – 21 in total – it was noted that four had been the subject of an in-depth investigation, with two of those being upheld against the authority.
With the Council’s Complaints Procedure, members were advised that, following discussion at the Management Board of senior officers, it had been proposed that the number of formal stages be reduced from three to two, to help improve response times for complainants as well as cut down on the amount of officer duplication. A copy of the revised Complaints Procedure had been circulated with the agenda.
Councillor Moore referred to the revised Complaints Procedure, specifically the response times set out for each stage (within 15 working days under stage 1 and 20 working days as part of stage 2). She felt that, even with reducing the stages from three to two, that was still a long period of time for the complainant to have to wait for a response. Ms Clarke advised that those particular time periods were not changing from the existing process, but stressed that, because of the reduction in the number of stages, the total amount of time to resolve a complaint – should it have taken all three stages in the past – would be shorter.
Parish Councillor Coleman asked where in the statistics complaints about the Fiveways public realm scheme appeared. Ms Clarke advised that it depended upon the exact nature of the complaint, adding that the Head of Environment and Street Scene was the lead officer for this project.
Councillor Coleman felt that, in a case such as the public realm scheme therefore, because complaints might fall within other operational areas, there might be a lack of transparency over the level of dissatisfaction with a particular project. The Chairman advised that, with a scheme such as the public realm improvements, it should be remembered that some of the complaints might relate to services for which the Borough Council was not the lead agency.
Ms Clarke provided some further general context: she said that all services were actively encouraged to deal with expressions of dissatisfaction as quickly as possible and this was set out in the Complaints Policy. She added that, if this process failed to provide a satisfactory outcome, then the formal complaints procedure was followed.
Councillor Podbury asked if the complaints referred to in the report in respect of the Assembly Hall Theatre were all historic. Ms Clarke advised that the report related to complaints received during 2015/16, and added that it was probable that the Assembly Hall continued to receive some complaints, although it was anticipated that the recent investment in much-improved facilities would lead to a noticeable reduction in the complaints.
RESOLVED –
(1) That the customer feedback received during 2015/16 and the lessons learned as a result of this feedback be noted;
(2) That the Annual Review letter published by the Local Government Ombudsman be noted; and
(3) That the revised Complaints Procedure, as set out in Appendix B to the report, be endorsed.
Supporting documents: