The Chair and Vice Chair had submitted their apologies for not being able to attend the meeting. The Panel therefore needed to elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Douglas proposed that Councillor Wilson was Chair for the meeting. This was seconded by Councillor J Tisi.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That Councillor Wilson was elected as Chair for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence from Panel Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Howard, Councillor Buckley and Councillor Moriarty.

Councillor Douglas was attending as a substitute for Councillor Howard and Councillor Carpenter was attending as a substitute for Councillor Buckley.

To receive any declarations of interest from Panel Members.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To consider and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th June 2023.

Councillor Price requested that the word ‘voluntary’ was added to the following line to clarify that she was referring to voluntary organisations.

“Councillor Price said that the organisations needed to be considered as they were having their own cost of living issues, for example a rise in utility bills.”

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That this amendment was made to the minutes and that the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th June 2023 were a true and accurate record.

The purpose of the report is to share with Corporate Overview and Scrutiny the annual complaints and compliments report for 2022/23 before it is published on the council’s website. Whilst Local Authorities are not required to produce an annual report on complaints relating to corporate activities, and are only required to do so on those submitted about Adults and Children’s Services, this report details all compliments and complaints made by or on behalf of customers.

The Panel are asked to note the report, agree that the report is published on the council’s website and that the annual report continues to be produced and presented at future Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

Nikki Craig, Assistant Director of HR, Corporate Projects and IT, said that all local authorities had a statutory obligation to publish data related to complaints on adult and children’s services. RBWM chose to also publish complaints relating to corporate services. The report contained information on complaints and compliments received across the 2022/23 municipal year. The key points of the report were:

• There had been a decrease in the number of contacts, a total of 1,408.
• Of these contacts, 269 were progressed as complaints. 168 of these were for service areas not covered by adult or children’s services.
• 27% complaints were upheld.
• 23% were partially upheld.
• 40% were not upheld.
• The number of complaints for each listed reason was included in the report.
• The number of complaints responded to within timescales was not met in 51% of cases.
• 293 compliments had been received.
• Lessons had been learned and narrative on this was part of the report.
• Detail related to adult and children’s services would be considered by the People Overview and Scrutiny Panel in October.

Councillor Price noted that the most common reason for complaints was on waste and recycling, this was a service area which affected all residents on a weekly basis. There had recently been a change to the contract of waste collection teams as they were now required to work a number of bank holidays across the year. Councillor Price wondered if this had an impact on morale and the quality of the service. She also felt that the council had promised a certain level of delivery for residents and therefore if this expectation was not met, it would lead to complaints. Councillor Price had tried to discuss resident issues with officers but she did sometimes not receive a reply, often the only solution was to advise the resident to submit a formal complaint.

Nikki Craig said that the employees on waste collection were not employed by RBWM, she was able to ask the Assistant Director of Neighbourhood Services for further details. It would be difficult for the council to judge whether the requirement to work on bank holidays had impacted on the quality of the service delivered. There were handheld devices used in trucks which could be used to record bins which had not been left out and to take pictures if necessary. The council not delivering what had been promised was a reason why residents could make a complaint, any patterns would be investigated by the relevant officer. There had been a reduction in complaints each year but officers wanted to ensure that any dissatisfaction from residents was addressed appropriately.

ACTION – Nikki Craig to ask for further details on the contract change for staff employed by contractors on the waste contract.

Councillor Hunt said that if she had any cases in her ward of bins being missed, she could contact the Waste Strategy Manager and they were always resolved promptly. Councillor Hunt felt that the contract was well managed by the council.

Councillor Douglas asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

To consider what topics the Panel would like to consider over the course of the municipal year.

Councillor Wilson requested a word change to his suggested topic, to consider whether the resourcing of staff across the council was appropriate.

Mark Beeley, Principal Democratic Services Officer – Overview and Scrutiny, said that performance reports would be considered in a different format to previous years. Performance would go to Cabinet for review and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny would be provided with an opportunity to focus on areas of concern at meetings. Plans on the draft budget would also be finalised and added into the work programme once confirmed.

Councillor Hunt asked what the proposed item on the RBWM Property Company was.

Mark Beeley was unable to confirm the details until Councillor Howard had sent through an initial scope.

Councillor J Tisi mentioned that Birmingham City Council had recently been issued a S114 notice, which effectively declared the council bankrupt. Given the financial situation at RBWM, he suggested that a finance update or budget monitoring report should be considered by the Panel.

Mark Beeley said that Corporate had previously considered budget monitoring reports, he would explore this with the Deputy Director of Finance.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to speak to the Deputy Director of Finance to bring a report on the financial position at RBWM to the Panel.

Councillor Price was concerned that items the Panel had previously scrutinised and should be considered on a yearly basis had not been coming through. She said that the Panel needed to ensure that items were brought forward and that there was tight grip on the work programme. Councillor Price suggested that an offline meeting should be organised with the Panel to finalise items which would come forward for consideration.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to work with officers to ensure that statutory items were brought forward and once confirmed this would be shared with the Panel.

Councillor Wilson felt that it would be useful to have a list of items which the Panel reviewed each year.

Mark Beeley said work was being done to update the Overview and Scrutiny webpages, a list could be added to the website. The work programme would also be updated so that the Panel were aware of what the Panel would be looking at.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to circulate link to the website once ready and the updated work programme.

Councillor Hunt asked if RBWM was in any danger of having a similar problem to what had occurred at Birmingham City Council, which had served a S114 notice due to equal pay claims.

Nikki Craig said that no organisation was safe from equal pay claims but felt that considering the job evaluation, grading system and the way recruitment was done she did not believe that RBWM had the same issue and nothing had been raised with her.

Councillor Sharpe said that there were routine reports which were missing, this should be added to the work programme to ensure the Panel was able to carry out its work effectively.

Councillor J Tisi asked about timescales involved in preparing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.