Agenda item

To consider the report of the Monitoring Officer  (attached).

Submitted – the report of the Senior Solicitor – Corporate noting the importance of the procedure in relation to the close link with customer care to ensure that complaints received due attention and that the responses were monitored.

          Members’ concerns were noted

-       that the Welsh language, which was so important, would not receive deserving attention in following the corporate complaints procedure.

-       about the bureaucracy and that the objective would be lost.

-       about the lack of role for the committee in terms of influence on the complaints and responses. In relation to monitoring the standards, it was noted that evidence existed that the Council was responding appropriately to the standards in any case and the role of the committee was questioned. 

The Monitoring Officer explained that it was a corporate complaints procedure for the public to raise a complaint about a service, including language complaints. It was noted that the public wanted a quick solution; therefore, the point of the procedure was to make things easier for the customer. If a member had a complaint, the services could be contacted directly. There would be a role for the committee if it became apparent that there was an increasing pattern to the complaints but that it was not the role of the committee to deal with individual complaints. The committee would have a wider role in terms of quality of language by looking at trends.

A member expressed concern that committee members would not see the complaints from now on. In response, it was noted that individual complaints had been submitted in the past and the committee did not see patterns over time. Consequently, there was no influence on the committee's work programme. In following the corporate complaints procedure, trends would be identified and those trends could be brought before this committee.

A member expressed concern that the Welsh language was being pushed to have the same type of consideration as a complaint about a pothole. The Welsh language was completely different and was embedded throughout all the Council's work.

The Senior Solicitor - Corporate referred to point 17 in the report which noted the intention to report to this committee about the numbers and types of language complaints, the patterns and plans for improvement. He reported that the arrangements were stronger within the Council by now and ensured that the customer received a response to their complaint. The standard of how the Council dealt with complaints had improved as it was monitored.

In response to a question by a member, it was reported that a language complaint had not been received since the last meeting of this committee.

          A member asked whether it was possible to go back to using the old system. In response, the Monitoring Officer explained that the complaints procedure was the Cabinet's responsibility and it was the Cabinet which had adopted this procedure based on the national model. This was the corporate complaints procedure. The procedure ensured that a problem which required more attention was given that and that the procedure was straightforward which stressed the need for solutions from departments.

          A member suggested that a request should be sent to the Cabinet to review the procedure in relation to language complaints. He reported that language complaints were different to every other complaint and given that the language was above and beyond everything else the complaints should be dealt with differently due to the status given to the language. 

          The Monitoring Officer suggested that the committee received a report under the new procedure first to see how it met the requirements rather than going for a separate public procedure for the language. An annual public report would be prepared. Two public procedures would cause confusion for the public.

          RESOLVED that the committee receives a report under the new procedure to see how it works.