Agenda item

To consider a review of the Complaints Policy.

65.1          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 19-28, provided details of the formal complaints review, the new ‘Have your Say’ approach as well as how the new digital programme would help the Council to ensure feedback from customers was responded to appropriately and that the process was as streamlined and simple as possible. Members were asked to endorse the proposed new ‘Have your Say’ approach and formal complaints policy and recommend it to the Executive Committee for approval.

65.2          The Corporate Services Manager advised that the current formal complaints policy had been introduced four years ago and it was prudent to carry out a review of the policy and monitoring of complaints. The revised policy introduced new ways of customers providing feedback which had been created following a discussion with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the suggestion of an approach used by the NHS known as the four c’s – compliments, comments, concerns and complaints. This approach would offer a clearer picture of residents satisfaction and would help those issues logged as formal complaints to be more specific. The revised complaints policy was attached to the report at Appendix 2; it was largely the same as the previous policy but had been updated to provide clarity about what could and could not be dealt with as a formal complaint; to enable the submission of complaints by email; and to give information about how stage two complaints would be handled. In terms of the new digital platform, it would offer additional benefits such as customers being given the option to log their issue as a concern or comment before accessing the formal complaints system and the benefits of doing that would be highlighted; customers could choose which service area their complaint was sent to from a detailed drop down list which would ensure the complaint reached the appropriate Officer sooner than it did currently; the Officer receiving the complaint could reallocate it if they felt it appropriate; stage two complaints would also be dealt within the new system which would allow for quicker response times, better monitoring and improved reporting; and the level of reporting would be vastly improved including the option for Members to receive details on the number and type of complaints in their Ward rather than just at Borough level.

65.3          During the discussion which ensued, a Member indicated that he was pleased to see best practice being brought in from other organisations. However, he questioned whether the paragraph on Page No. 25 should be amended to remove the second reference to Councillors and also whether the reference to 30 calendar days on Page No. 26 could be amended in line with the other timescales noted which were in ‘working days’. In response to a query regarding the complaints policy on the website, the Corporate Services Manager advised that it would be on the website in the agreed form but when the new digital platform was up and running it would also be interactive. The Member also queried why the words ‘comments’ and ‘complaints’ were in bold in some of the documents. In response, the Corporate Services Manager advised that these were design formatting but she would have a look at it and see if any changes were needed.

65.4          A Member endorsed the work that had been done and the user friendly way in which communication was encouraged through the document. She also felt that recording compliments would provide a more balanced report and view of what residents thought of the Council. Another Member questioned in what circumstances local Members would or would not be informed of complaints within their area. In addition, he questioned whether there could be a ‘catch all’ section at the end of the list of things that a resident could report in case their particular issue did not fall within one of the categories provided; the Councillor had an issue with this in the past when he had been reporting something for a resident and by choosing the option that best fitted the complaint rather than there being a specific category there had been some confusion caused within the system. In response, the Corporate Services Manager confirmed that the new online platform would be far more flexible than the current one but she would also ensure there was an additional ‘catch all’ category. In terms of complaints being notified to local Members ‘where relevant’ she explained that some complaints were not Ward specific and therefore would not be sent to a local Member and sometimes complainants specified that they did not want a Councillor informed and that request would be respected. The new online platform would allow improved reporting so Ward Councillors could see the type of complaints in their areas etc. ensuring they were much better informed. The system generated automatic emails to Ward Councillors where necessary so it was not something that would be forgotten.

65.5          Referring to the number of compliments received, the Corporate Services Manager advised that the Council did not receive many but they were reported through Management Team. Internally, the Council had started a culture and communications working group for staff which would also look at this type of thing and how accomplishments could be better celebrated; she would update Members as that work progressed. The Head of Corporate Services advised that the figures he had recently received showed five compliments in quarter 2 and two in quarter 3.

65.6          A Member noted a number of consistency and typographical errors which he asked to be addressed: Page No. 25 - under the heading ‘Comments’ – amend – ‘You will receive an automatic reply to let you know we have received your comment within five working days, but you may not receive a response from us….’ – this would ensure consistency of approach; Page No. 26 - second column, first paragraph, last sentence – amend – ‘Each complaint will be given a unique reference which will be given to the complainant’; Page No. 27 - consider amending the phrase ‘the learning’ to ‘lessons learnt’; Page No. 28 - consider splitting second paragraph into shorter sentences and consider the placement of quotation marks around ‘vexatious’; and Page No. 26 - second column – fourth paragraph – amend ‘this’ to ‘there’.

65.7          In terms of the three day response criteria, the Corporate Services Manager confirmed that she had consulted all Operational Managers and they agreed that the timescales would be achievable. Currently all complaints went through the Customer Services team and when the team was busy this could lead to delays. When complaints were sent straight to the specific departments they were dealt with more quickly. In addition, the online platform would send out automated reminders for Officers to respond to complaints etc. and this would be overseen by the Corporate Services Officer. In terms of the submission of complaints, she confirmed that whatever form they were submitted, they would be put onto the online platform. The complaints policy would be submitted to the Executive Committee for approval and then would be built onto the platform to go live in April at some point. Members would be kept up to date on progress via Member updates.

65.8          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                 RESOLVED           That the new ‘Have your Say Approach’ and formal complaints                                     Policy be RECOMMENDED TO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE to                               be APPROVED, subject to the following amendments:

·        Page 23 – consider why ‘comments’ and ‘complaints’ in the speech bubble are bold – is this necessary.

·        Page 23 - check why heading ‘Complaints’ is in bold black text.

·        Page 23 – under the heading ‘Comments’ – amend – ‘You will receive an automatic reply to let you know we have received your comment within five working days, but you may not receive a response from us….’

·        Page 25 - Under the heading ‘What else cannot be dealt with under our formal complaints process?’ fourth bullet point – amend - ‘Complaints against Councillors and Parish Councillors’.

·        Page 26 – Under the heading ‘Stage 2 – investigation by an independent head of service’ – amend – ‘you must do this in writing within 30 calendar days 30 working days of our response’.

·        Page 26 – second column, first paragraph, last sentence – amend – ‘Each complaint will be given a unique reference which will be given to the complainant’.

·        Page 26 - second column – fourth paragraph – amend ‘this’ to ‘there’.

·        Page 27 – consider amending the phrase ‘the learning’ to ‘lessons learnt’.

·        Page 28 – consider splitting second paragraph into shorter sentences.

·        Page 28 - consider the placement of quotation marks around ‘vexatious’.