TITLE
/Corporate Complaints Monitoring Report for July – December 2008
REPORT FROM / Director of Corporate ResourcesCONTACT
/Name
/ Richard FranklandTel / 01642 444092 /
DATE
/ 12 February 2009e-mail / / CATEGORY / 3
DECISION MAKER (S) / STANDARDS COMMITTEE
TYPE OF DECISION
Policy Matter / Budget Setting / In-year decisionDelegated Decision / Information only / x
Key Decision / Date in Forward Plan / N/A
1. PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of the report is to provide Members with a monitoring report on the Corporate Complaints received by directorates during the sixth month period July to December 2008 and to report on Ombudsman investigations.
2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
All users of services provided by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council have a right to expect these services to be performed to a good standard. If, for any reason, they feel they have not received this, the Council should respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The Corporate Complaints Procedure has been in operation for since April 2006 and has as its aim an accessible, informal and resolution focussed system.Where an early, informal resolution is not possible and the complainant remains dissatisfied, the procedure allows for a more formal Stage 2 investigation and finally a Stage 3 panel hearing. The complaint is always able to take the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman; however the Ombudsman usually gives the Council the opportunity to investigate the matter before they conduct an investigation.
3.COMPLAINTS RECEIVED JULY – DECEMBER 2008
During this six month period, 182corporate complaints have been processed during this period.
The majority of complaints, and indeed compliments, have been made to the Area Management Department. This is to be expected as this Department contains the majority of the front line services, which have the greatest visibility to members of the public.
One of the most important factors in judging the effectiveness of a complaints handling system is its clear up rates, i.e. the number of complaints resolved at each stage in the procedure. The chart above shows that over this six month period, 182 corporate complaints have been investigated and responded to at the first stage of the Councils complaints procedure. This means the request has been received, processed and closed within this period.
Of these 182 complaints, only 7 progressed to Stage 2, a clear up rate of 96.15%. This demonstrates a good early resolution. Five of these complaints progressed to a Stage 3 panel which involved members of the Standards Committee.
When complaints are recorded they are logged,where possible, according to the type of complaint being made. This can allow further analysis and identification of potentially problematic areas. The following chart identifies the type of complaint being made.
4.OMBUDSMAN ACTIVITY
Members have asked for clarity as to how many of the Stage 3 complaints subsequently result in an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Two complainants have made it known that they intend to pursue their complaint with the Ombudsman. At this moment in time, although early enquiries have been made with regard to one complaint, no investigation has commenced.
The following three decisions have been received from the Ombudsman during this period.
Date Received / Nature of Complaint / Directorate / Decision2/10/08 / Dissatisfaction with the way the Council handled four planning applications for alterations to a neighbouring property. / Regeneration / No or Insufficient Evidence of Maladministration
No evidence of injustice caused through Maladministration therefore no investigation required.
18/11/08 / That the Council has unreasonably refused to allow the complainant to register for housing because of rent arrears / Regeneration / No or Insufficient Evidence of Maladministration
Decision not made by the Council
13/11/08 / The Council’s decision to re-advertise a tender due to dis-qualification and the way the Council handled the complaint / Corporate Resources / No or Insufficient Evidence of Maladministration
The Council, faced with the situation which unfolded, had no alternative than to act as it did and the conclusion is that the Council did nothing wrong.
There are 5 current Local Government Ombudsman investigations for which a response has been provided but a decision has not yet been received. Two local settlements are being sought with the complainant.
Following receipt of the annual report produced by the Local Government Ombudsman, which highlighted that Departments were not compliant on average with the 28 calendar days response time for replying to the Ombudsman, a proactive approach is taken by the Constitution Office to ensure that target dates are met. This information is presented monthly for Performance EMT.
Month / Responses sent to Ombudsman / Average response time (days)July 2008 / 0 / 0
August 2008 / 0 / 0
September 2008 / 0 / 0
October 2008 / 2 / 28
November 2008 / 4 / 22
December 2008 / 0 / 0
Average for year so far / 10 / 25.7
During this period, 10 complaints were received from the Local Government Ombudsman classified as ‘premature complaints’, requesting they be dealt with at Stage 1 of the corporate complaints procedure.
5.LEARNING FROM THE COMPLAINTS
Officers generally have a good appreciation of the shortcomings in the service they are providing and complaints, whilst highlighting these, do not usually tell an Officer anything they don’t already know or draw their attention to anything that they were not already working on. A proportion of all complaints received, however, are upheld when an investigation is carried out.
An Officer’s complaints group has been set up, with the remit of learning from complaints. The outcomes that are sought from this group are to:
-Undertake options appraisal on the replacement or development of the RESPONDcomputer system
-Promote good practice on responding to the outcome of complaints
-Develop training opportunities for complaints leads and investigating officers
-Develop a common reporting framework
-Celebrate what we do well
-Manage Complaints KPI’s for Stage 1 and 2
Two new performance indicators have been set up to monitor on a quarterly basis, the number of complaints progressing from Stage 1 to Stage 2 and subsequently to Stage 3. Active management will highlight at an early opportunity any problems with complaint’s process.
6.RECOMMENDATIONSIt is recommended:-
1. That Officers continue to monitor corporate complaints and report to members on a 6 monthly basis.
2.That Members note the information.
Please tick
Human Rights Act 1998 considered /
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 considered /
Children Act 2004 considered /
Diversity and Equalities Impact Assessment completed /
Legal implications considered / √
7.RISK
A lack of continued focus and development of the Corporate Complaints system will fail to take an opportunity to learn from experience and improve our services and may impact on future CPA/CAA assessments.
8.REVIEW PROCEDURE
Responsible Council Officer / Richard FranklandMember’s monitoring committee / Standards Committee
Deadline for Review / October 2009
9. APPENDICES – None
10.INFORMATION SOURCES
None
Author : Sue Bridges
Constitution Manager