Agenda item

To note the Annual Complaints report for 2017/18.

The Support Service Manager, Marion Leigh and the Complaints Manager, Clare Davies, were in attendance at the meeting to provide a summary of the Annual Complaints report and answer any questions arising. It was confirmed that Croydon Council operated a two stage Complaints Policy. In the first instance a complaint would be dealt with by the respective service and if the complainant did not think the response at this stage had resolved the issue, it would be escalated to the Corporate Complaints Team.

In terms of Stage 1 complaints, there had been an 8% reduction in the amount received over the past year.  Response times had also improved with 88% answered within 20 working days against a target of 90%. The number of Stage 2 complaints had also decreased by 8% as well. Response times had also improved, but due to the complexity of the complaints at this stage only 39% had been answered with 20 working days.

The report included a summary of the statutory complaints for both Adult’s and Children’s Services as there were different procedures for complaints in these areas. Adult Services only had a one stage process, which had seen a reduction in the number of complaints received. The Children’s Service had a three stage process. The complaints made at stage 1 had increased in 2017/2018, but there had been a reduction in complaints reaching stage 2 and 3.

The Committee agreed that in order to put the Council’s performance into context, it would be very useful for future reports to include benchmarking data to allow comparison with the performance of other local authorities. In response, it was confirmed that although this data was not currently available, officers were in the process of developing a network with other Councils which would lead to future opportunities for benchmarking.

In response to a question about how the Council looked to learn from the complaints it received, it was confirmed that the Corporate Complaints team looked to work with departments to ensure that a timely response was provided to complaints and that were used to inform their own learning. As well as working directly with departments, the team also reviewed all complaints to look for overarching themes that might need action.  For instance within the Benefits Service, there had been a reduction in the number of complaints received in 2017/18, but many had been related to the theme of delays. As such the team had been working with the Service on their processes and putting measures in place to address this issues.

It was questioned whether the details about complaints were left on file should it be upheld, as there was a concern that it may be difficult for the complainant to continue to access services. It was confirmed that the information was held within the Complaints system and it was important to ensure that the complainant could continue to access Council Services.  If the complaint was of a sensitive nature, then it may be the case that the officer involved could be moved and another officer allocated to work with the complainant going forward.

Recommendations

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to make the following recommendations for future complaints reports:

1.    That a section be added to the report detailing trends in complaints

2.    That benchmarking data with other local authorities be included.

3.    That a section be added on what has been learnt from the complaints during the year and how processes have changed as a result.