Annual Compliments and Complaints Report
To review and comment on the contents of the report.
Minutes:
Nikki Craig, Head of HR, Corporate Projects and IT, introduced the item and outlined what was in the report. Members were told that a total of 400 complaints had been received by the Council in the 2019/20 municipal year. Of those 27 related to adult services and 54 related to children’s services; of the children’s services complaints 35 were corporate and the remaining 19 were statutory, which were complaints made by or on behalf of a child in care or a child in need. Nikki Craig said the most common complaints theme overall was over a lack of action. However for adult services the most common complaint related to not received the required help or intervention, and for children’s services it was a failure to follow policy and failing to take enough information into account.
The Panel was told that 56 per cent of all adult and children’s services complaints were responded to within the correct timescales. The overall figure across the Council was 59 per cent, compared to 64 per cent in 2018/19. Nikki Craig said 61 per cent of all complaints were either wholly or partially upheld; however this figure was 52 per cent for adult services and 63 per cent for children’s services. Members were reminded that complainants could escalate their concerns to the Social Care Ombudsman and this had been done a total of 49 times. Of those, nine related to adult services; four were upheld, two were closed as they were incomplete and three were closed after initial enquiries. There were ten Ombudsman referrals relating to children’s services; two were upheld, one was closed as it was incomplete, one was closed after initial enquiries and the remaining six were referred back to the Council for local resolution.
The Panel was told there had been 440 compliments received by the Compliments and Complaints team, of which 21 related to adult services and 63 related to children’s services.
Cllr Story asked for further information on the reasons given for the complaints concerning a lack of response, after noting the report referred to the complexity of the complaint and officer resource pressure. The Panel was told this was partly attributable to the use of agency staff, whereas there was now less resource pressure and greater ability to meet capacity. Staff were now being challenged to gather as much information at the initial point of contact with a service user to understand the root issues and concerns, and in order to prevent any complaints being made in future. Michael Murphy, Director of Strategy Services and Deputy DASS, said the quality assurance process for adult services had been improved to ensure the right information was given at the right time, and if there was conflict then it could be resolved earlier. He said the benefits were already starting to be shown. Kevin McDaniel, Director of Children’s Services, said there was a similar situation with children’s services, particularly relating to the SEND team. Last year there had been 76 agency staff employed in children’s services, which had now been reduced to 26. Permanent staff had been identified to replace the agency staff.
In terms of failing to respond to complaints in a timely manner, Nikki Craig, Kevin McDaniel and Hilary Hall, Director of Adults, Health and Commissioning, all said this was usually due to the complex nature of the issues involved and more time was often needed to gain a full and clear understanding. Face to face and virtual meetings with service users had been offered to help fully understand the nature of complaints, which had been useful for officers and complainants.
RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Panel noted the report and agreed that the report is published on the Council’s website, and the annual report continues to be produced and presented at Overview and Scrutiny panels.
Supporting documents:
- Adult children and health OS 30 09 2020, item 49. PDF 195 KB
- FINAL Annual Compliments Complaints Report 2019-20, item 49. PDF 6 MB