Agenda item

To consider the report which outlined the complaints and compliments received within 2023/24 and identifies the key trends within complaints and compliments over a five-year period.

The Chair invited Jo Brown, Assistant Chief Executive to introduce this report. She explained that an overview presentation was usually provided with this report to highlight the key trends.

The report set out the annual position on both complaints and compliments for the year ending March 2024. The report included figures on the overall council position and detail by directorate. A training briefing had been circulated to all Councillor post-election as a result of previous feedback. That briefing provided information of how the Council responded to formal complaints, and the differences between the formal complaints process and the things members my see in their surgery enquiries. Information was also provided in December 2023, on the compensation levels in 2022-23.

New reporting had been developed around financial redress as a result of any upheld complaints, which provided additional reporting through directorates to monitor and ensure appropriate levels of financial redress were maintained.

The presentation highlighted the following:

·       It showed the number of complaints received each year between 2019/20 through to 2023/24.

·       The lowest number of complaints were seen during 2020-21 when across the country complaints were suppressed due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

·       The highest number of complaints received was in 2022/23, 1,397 but this decreased in 2023/24 to 1,212.

·       The number of compliments received had a slight decrease in 2020/21 however this increased over each year with 902 compliments being received in 2023/24.

·       The comparison between 2022/23 to 2023/24 showed that 185 few complaints were received which was a decrease of 13%. 25% of complaints were upheld and this was a decrease on 2022/23 when 32% of complaints were upheld.

·       111 more compliments were received, which was an increase of 14% and it was noted that not all compliments were passed on to the Complaints Team by staff.

·       Over the last two years Housing and Regeneration and Environment (R&E) had received the highest number of complaints.

·       The largest decrease in the number of complaints received over the last two years was in R&E with a decrease of 27%.

·       The second largest decrease in the number of complaints received over the past two years was in Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS), with a decreased of 45%.

·       Finance and Customer Services also decreased by a percentage of 13%.

·       Adult Care services had a percentage increase of 16% with Housing an increase of 1%.

·       The Assistant Chief Executives directorate had increased from four to five and Public Health remained unchanged at zero complaints received.

·       In terms of performance, 82% of complaints taken through the formal process were responded to within relevant timescales. This was slightly below the Council Plan target of 85%.

·       Finance and Customer Services resolved 91% of complaints within timescales.

·       CYPS increased the number of complaints resolved in a timely manner up to 89% from 64%.

·       Compliments had increased from 791 in 2022/23 to 902 in 2023/24, whilst the number had increase overall, the numbers had not increased across all the main service areas where it was noted that not all compliments may have reached the Complaints Team.

·       Within in the first six months of the year 567 complaints had been received with 85% responded to in time and 464 compliments had been received which was an increase compared to the 396 received during the same period.

Councillor Yasseen welcomed the decrease which showed the benefits of investigating complaints. An area of concern was around the response timescales as the target had been missed and it was queried if there was a clear theme where the directorates were missing that target.

The target could have been missed due to the complexity of the complaint, some of which were multifaceted and coordinated across directorates or services to provide a comprehensive response. There were no discernible patterns. Assurance was provided that no manager wanted to respond to things out of time. However, when the target was missed this was sometimes down to the complexity of the complaint or sometimes it was due to issues with the individual. The Complaints Team provided support to managers were needed and had weekly dashboards, and monthly performance report, which monitored this.

Councillor Yasseen noted that sometimes residents contacted their ward members when they had not received a response to their use through other avenues and queried the timescales by which members should received a response in instances such as this. 

The Chair noted that council procedures should be followed and if they were not followed then a complaint should be raised.

The Vice-Chair noted that whilst there had been a decrease in the number of complaints, there had been an increase in the number of complaints not being responded to within the correct time limits. It was queried if complaints for this particular year had been more complicated that other years. It was also asked how many staff in that area worked from home? Training had been discussed at last years meeting and had been mentioned again at this meeting and it was queried when the training would be reviewed to ensure its effectiveness.

The Chair commented that whether the staff were working at home should not make a difference to the performance. 

In response it was noted that pressures within services differed month on month so it was acknowledged that, at certain times of the year, so services may struggle to pull information together particularly if it was a complex response. It was agreed that processes should be followed, and the Council should be aiming to meet people’s expectations wherever possible, to provide timely and quality responses. The complaints process was there for a reason and should be utilised when all other routes had been exhausted but look to resolve those instances as quickly as possible. 

The Council had a Working Location Policy which provided flexibility to staff, but it had always focused on service delivery to residents. Training was continually provided by the Complaints Team, who pushed for high standards in complaints responses, both in quality and timeliness.

In response to a follow-up question by the Vice-Chair it was noted that when a complaint came from the Ombudsman, the Council had done all it could to try to resolve that complaint, but it was noted that even at that point, more could be done to try to engage with the customer to see if there was anything further the Council to do to resolve it.  Consideration would be given to how members who put through high numbers of case work relating to customer service complaints could be involved further.

Councillor Blackham felt that it was not just the attitude of our staff that needed to be considered but also the attitude of our providers and contractors as well. The attitude they projected when visiting someone’s home was important and related to the quality of service offered. Assurance was provided that regular conversations, including contract management meetings took place, going down to individual complaint level if required. The number of housing complaints raised when compared to peers was lower.

The Vice-Chair asked if in future reports that the Complaints Team would consider how members who put through high numbers of casework relating to customer service complaints could be involved further.

The Chair noted that OSMB was the forum where the complaints report was considered, and it was expected that all officers of the Council would follow policy and procedures. It was suggested that a recommendation that a Member Session be held for all members to consider the complaints report following its consideration by OSMB.

Upon a vote, the following was resolved:

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board:

1.  Noted the Annual Compliments and Complaints Report for 2023/24.

2.  Agreed that a Member Session be held for all members to consider the Annual Complaints and Compliments report following its consideration by OSMB.