Agenda item

To accept and note the information in the report.

The report was submitted by Cllr Llio Elenid Owen.

DECISION

To accept and note the information in the report.

DISCUSSION

It was explained that the report detailed the Council's performance in handling complaints and improving services, in line with the expectation to provide an update to the Cabinet every six months. The report highlighted successes, challenges and developments over the past six months. Attention was drawn to quantitative and qualitative data to measure the Council's performance together with comparative information from recent years.

It was confirmed that the number of Formal Complaints and complaints that have gone to the Ombudsman had decreased in the last six months compared to the same period last year. It was elaborated that a trend over a longer period indicated that the number of Formal Complaints had decreased steadily between 2018/19 and 2021/22 until there was a significant increase at that time following the pandemic. It was emphasised that the situation continued to stabilise on an annual basis into the pre-Covid situation.

Pride was expressed in a change of culture within the Council, with the majority of Services accepting that complaints were a positive and constructive opportunity to learn lessons. It was also noted that the timespan before responding to complaints with solutions was gradually decreasing. Pride was expressed that the number of complaints about a lack of response or action had fallen by around 50% so far this year, looking at the comparative data.

The Service Improvement Officer was thanked for her tireless work within this field and for working closely with departments receiving complaints, offering training sessions when appropriate.

Observations arising from the discussion:

·       There was pride that the Council's culture now dealt with complaints as a tool to improve services and learn lessons.

·       It was pointed out that messages of praise were also received regularly by the Departments.

·       Cabinet Members were asked to ensure that discussions took place within their departments to strive to find solutions to all existing complaints.

·       Specific attention was drawn to the number of formal complaints received within the last six months, noting that 14 complaints had been received, compared to 27 complaints within the same period last year. Similarly, it was confirmed that eight complaints of errors or incorrect actions were received within the last six months compared to 21 in the same period last year.

·       It was confirmed that a further report was being submitted to the Governance and Audit Committee shortly to ensure that complaints procedures allowed individuals to lodge a complaint in an appropriate and convenient manner. It was elaborated that a report on a new Customer Care Charter would be submitted to the Cabinet soon, stating that it would confirm what was expected of Council departments. It was explained that the Customer Care Charter would also place expectations on residents and service users as to how complaints were lodged. It was emphasised that these developments would be addressed as the Department reported on the performance of Complaints and Service Improvement (Quarters 3 and 4) in six months' time.