Agenda item

Joanne Crookes, Customer Services Manager:

a)    presented the annual complaints report which included reference to the Annual Review of Local Authority Complaints issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), and details of the decisions of the Housing Ombudsman

b)    reported also on the overall number of complaints received by the Council including response times and percentage of complaints upheld on a directorate basis for the full year 2023-24

c)    highlighted the background to the council’s complaints procedure at paragraph 2 of the report

d)    advised that the Housing Ombudsman had published a Complaint Handling Code, details of which were contained at paragraph 2.3 of the report

e)    explained that as a result of the guidance, and in consultation with the Resident Involvement Panel, new time targets for handling complaints had been introduced:

·       Initial acknowledgment within 5 days

·       Level 1 complaints to be responded to within 10 working days

·       Level 2 complaints to be resolved within 20 working days.

f)     reported that the number of complaints received over the year had slightly decreased over the peak on the previous year. There were some council services that had suspended their operations for several months, in year 2020-2021 which would have reduced the potential for something to go wrong in that time and consequently kept complaints low

g)    further detailed the breakdown of directorate complaints at paragraph 4 of the report

h)    highlighted that of the 418 complaints responded to in 2023-2024, 50% (211) were upheld, this was inline with 55% upheld last year

i)      referred to paragraph 5 of the report and detailed the complaints that were investigated by LGSCO

j)      referred to paragraph 6 and gave an overview of the two complaints that were investigated and upheld by the Housing Ombudsman Service

k)    highlighted the trend in complaints as detailed at paragraph 7 of the report

l)      highlighted the number of compliments received from members of the public acknowledging professionalism of staff across all service areas

m)  invited questions and comments from members of the Committee.

Members discussed the content of the report, commented, asked questions and received relevant responses from officers as follows:

Comment: The report had previously been presented to Performance Scrutiny Committee and Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee. Given that housing was now being measured by an outside body, additional complaints were expected and welcomed and would ensure that the service expected was being provided. An increased number of complaints was not negative provided they could be resolved.

Response: Complaint response times were important and it was essential that complaints were responded to in a timely manner.

Comment: A split within the Housing Management Team to include an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer and an officer responsible for Rents would be positive.

Question: Reference was made to the breakdown of complaints at paragraph 4.2 of the report. Could a definition of ‘Community Services’ be provided?

Response: Community Services included the bins and street scene team.

Question: Reference was made to level 1 and level 2 complaints at paragraph 2.5 of the report. Could an explanation be provided of the different levels of complaints?

Response: A level 1 complaint was the initial complaint received from a customer. If the response to the initial complaint was not acceptable and challenged by the customer, the complaint would be escalated to a level 2.

Question: Reference was made to the average complaint response time at paragraph 3.3 of the report. The average response time had decreased from 70% in 2022/23 to 67% in 2023/24. What was the reason for the decrease?

Response: The percentages quoted referred to responses provided within the timescales for complaint handling which reflected the recommended response times within the Complaint Handling Code. The difference was the number of complaints that had not been responsed to within the expected time.

RESOLVED that the content of the 2023-2024 complaints report be noted with thanks.

(Note: Joanne Crookes left the meeting at this point in proceedings)