Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that required the exclusion of the public or press.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Chief Executive that presented the annual summary of compliments and complaints received by the Council.

The Cabinet Member - Finance and Corporate Services, the Assistant Chief Executive and the Corporate Complaints Manager attended the meeting to present the report.

The Strategic Director – Children and Young People’s Services, the Strategic Director – Finance and Customer Services, the Strategic Director – Regeneration and Environment, the Assistant Director - Children’s Social Care, the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Street Scene and the Head of Housing Operations were also in attendance at the meeting.

In introducing the report the Cabinet Member - Finance and Corporate Services noted that the purpose of the annual complaint report was to outline the complaints and compliments that the Council had received in the period 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 and to highlight key themes and also longer-term trends. The Cabinet Member advised that the report was being presented at a later date this year due to a partial suspension of the formal complaints service during a period in 2020 as a result of the impact of the pandemic. The Cabinet Member noted that the Annual Compliments and Complaint Report for 2020/2021 would be reported as usual during September/October.

The key issues detailed in the report were:

·       In 2019/20, the overall number of complaints received by the Council had increased by 7%, going from 1,275 in 2018/19 to 1,372.  The increase had been due to more complaints being received in two particular service areas. Housing Services increased by 26%, from 439 to 551, and Finance and Customer services had increased by 41%, from 129 to 182. 

·       In Children and Young People’s Services’ complaints decreased by 27%, from 200 to 147, and in Adult Social Services by 17%, from 87 to 72. The number of complaints received about Regeneration and Environment Services had also decreased but by only 2 from 413 to 411.

·       The two highest areas for complaints overall were Housing (551) and Regeneration and Environment Services (411).  The third highest area was Finance and Customer services (182).  It was noted that this was consistent with previous years’ figures, due to the number of residents that these departments deal with.

·       Overall, 89% of complaints were responded to within timescales, compared with 87% in 2018/19. This meant that this was better that the five year all Council average of 83%. 

·       The number of compliments received had decreased again – 794 had been received in 2019/20, in comparison to the 844 received in 2018/19.

·       The most frequent category of complaints received by the Council was regarding ‘quality of service’, accounting for 46% of all complaints (632 of 1,372.) 

·       In comparison with the previous year, fewer complaints had been escalated to Stage 2 of the complaint’s procedure, at 31 (in contrast with 44 in 2018/19.) Additionally, of the 1,332 complaints that had been taken through the Council’s formal complaints procedures, more were upheld in 2019/20 at 365 or 27%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 316.

To consider the Board’s Work Programme.

The Board considered its Work Programme.

Resolved:  - That the Work Programme be approved

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.

The Chairs of the Improving Lives, Improving Places and Health Select Commissions provided an update on the work of the Select Commissions.  

The Chair of the Health Select Commission noted her thanks to Janet Spurling, who had retired in 2020, and to Katherine Harclerode for their work in supporting the Health Select Commission.

The Chair of the Improving Lives Select Commission noted her thanks to Caroline Webb, who had moved to another position in the Council, and to Martin Elliott for their work in supporting the Improving Lives Select Commission.

The Chair provided a progress report on the work of the sub-groups of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and on the work of the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillor Rob Elliott confirmed that he had now taken the vacant Rotherham Democratic Party seat on that committee.

To review and identify items for pre-decision scrutiny from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period from 1 February to 30 April 2021.

Members considered the Cabinet Forward Plan for the period 1 February to 30 April 2021.  

Resolved: - That the Forward Plan be noted.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items of business.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held on Wednesday 17 March at 11am as a Microsoft Teams Meeting.  

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held on Wednesday 17 March 2021 at 11am as a Microsoft Teams meeting.