Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Customers and Education (copy enclosed) which provided an overview of complaints, compliments and feedback received during the period 01.04.12 to 31.03.13.

 

 

A copy of a report by the Head of Customers and Education (HCE), which provides an overview of complaints, compliments and feedback received by Denbighshire during the period 01.04.12 to 31.03.13, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

The HCE introduced the report and confirmed that members of the public would be encouraged to submit complaints.  She explained that the number of complaints received should not be perceived as negative as this was a means of obtaining useful information which could be utilised to improve the standard of service provision.  Councillor M.L. Holland expressed his support for the policy and highlighted its virtues in providing an opportunity and method of analysing complaints received.    

 

The report provided an overview of the volumes and types of feedback received during 2012/13, information regarding the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales’ annual report and accompanying letter, and details of future policy development which would impact on ‘Your Voice’.  Members were informed that the policy had been promoted and published as ‘Your Voice’.

 

Headlines for 2012/13 had been detailed in Appendix 1 to the report:-

 

·                The number of feedback recorded increased compared with 2011/12:

 

§  complaints by 12% from 587 to 660

§  compliments by 88% from 436 to 820

§  suggestions had remained static at 16

 

·                The number of complaints successfully dealt with at stage 1 increased to   94.2%, up 2.6% from last year.

·                Complaints dealt with within timescale continued to improve achieving 91%, although the corporate target 95% had not been achieved.

·                51% of all complaints had been upheld or upheld in part, up 13% from last year.

 

Members noted that 38 complaints had been made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.  This number was higher than the Welsh Local Authority average of 25, and details had been included in Appendix 2.

 

Three Section 21 reports had been issued.  These reports were issued when a public body agreed to implement any recommendations made by the Ombudsman.  Confirmation had been provided that he had been satisfied that no public interest had been involved.  Summaries of the reports had been included as Appendix 3.

 

There had been fewer complaints of Members breaching the code of conduct.  4 had been received in 2012/13 compared with 9 received in 2011/12.

 

An outline of the proposed changes to ‘Your Voice’ had been included in Appendix 4.  Reference was made to the `Your Voice` revision which incorporated complaints, compliments and the feedback policy.

 

Details of the consultation process had been incorporated in the report and included:-

 

·      Monthly reporting to the Senior Leadership Team.

·      Quarterly reporting to Performance Scrutiny Committee.

·      Annual reporting to Corporate Governance Committee.

·      Consultation with Legal Services and service complaint officers regarding the changes to ‘Your Voice’.

 

In reply to questions from the Chair and Councillor S.A. Davies, the HEC provided details of Member inclusion and involvement in the complaints process, and she outlined the coordinated approach adopted for dealing with possible vexatious complaints, which involved the nomination of a specific officer to deal with the specific issue.

 

In response to questions from Mr P. Whitham, it was explained that reports were submitted on a monthly basis to SLT, Scrutiny Committees and could be published on the Council’s website.  Complaints relating to schools, particular reference to school admissions, were monitored by the schools and it was agreed that information on trends relating to previous years could be provided for Members of the Committee and included in future reports.

 

RESOLVED – that:-

 

(a)  the Corporate Governance Committee receives and notes the changes leading to the revised complaints, compliments and feedback policy - ‘Your Voice’, and

(b)   information on trends relating to previous years be provided for Members of the Committee and included in future reports.

(JW to Action)