To consider the report.

Nikki Craig, Head of HR, Corporate Projects and IT, said that the council was only required to publish the data on complaints in relation to adult’s and children’s services. However, RBWM published the data that it held across all complaints. In the 2021/22 municipal year, there had around 1,500 contacts made with the team, this was a 30% reduction on the previous year. 399 of these contacts were progressed as formal complaints, which was a similar number to the previous year. The report before the Panel considered the corporate complaints, there had been less complaints upheld this year, slightly more partially upheld and more not upheld over the previous year. Learnings had been included in the report, particularly from service areas where there had been a high number of complaints. Where a complainant was unhappy with the response received, they could take their complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). This year, there had been 51 contacts with the ombudsman, with a number not progressing after initial enquires. Of the complaints to progress to a full investigation, this was a similar number to the previous year. On compliments, Nikki Craig said that there had been a slight reduction from 766 to 619. It was noted that the team with the highest level of complaints was also the team with the highest level of compliments.

Councillor Sharpe asked how RBWM compared to other local authorities.

Nikki Craig said that not all council’s published the same level of data on complaints, therefore it could be difficult to benchmark. She had been able to compare the LGSCO data with the other Berkshire authorities and Nikki Craig confirmed that RBWM was at a similar level.

Councillor Knowles noted that of the complaints submitted to the ombudsman, 71% were upheld. He asked therefore whether the RBWM complaints system was following the correct guidance, when such a significant number had been overturned by the ombudsman. Councillor Knowles also commented on the 20% that were happy with the remedy that had been offered as a result of the complaint.

Nikki Craig confirmed that RBWM was trending slightly higher than other authorities for complaints which were upheld by the ombudsman. The complaints to the ombudsman were regarding a wide variety of services and RBWM was trending slightly higher comparatively for satisfaction on the remedy to complaints made.

Kevin McDaniel added that some of the learning for officers from complaints came in changing the process as a result, this was not reflected in the statistics.

Councillor Price asked how learnings in one service area were shared with other service areas.

Nikki Craig explained that the complaints team attended service team meetings to talk through complaints. They could take the learnings from one team to another team, particularly where complaints were of a similar nature. Learnings were also shared at the Heads of Service meetings.

Councillor Price had found that it was better for residents to make a formal complaint as it led to a better outcome.

Kevin McDaniel responded that in his experience, where something had not been resolved from an initial conversation, the best way to resolve the issue was to use the complaints process, which could be quick and accurate.

Councillor Sharpe commented that it would be useful to understand what some of the most serious complaints were so that the Panel could ensure that issues had been followed through.

Nikki Craig said that a breakdown of the complaints was part of the report, with all complaints put into different theme categories. The report would also be considered by the People Overview and Scrutiny Panel in December, this could help to answer Councillor Sharpe’s question.

Adele Taylor said that the most serious complaints would regard statutory services in adult’s and children’s services. The People Overview and Scrutiny Panel would be able to look at this in more detail.

Councillor Sharpe said that it was important for the Panel to know that corporate matters were being dealt with.

Kevin McDaniel was confident that there was a process in place, officers understood the value of following the process and getting it right. There were a small number of complaints in this area but if anything was a concern, Kevin McDaniel encouraged the Panel to flag this so that Members could be reassured.

Councillor Knowles felt that there was a lot of overlap with risk management, controls meant that serious complaints should not appear but they would be flagged up if there were any. He suggested that the risk register could be an appendix to the report which would allow the Panel to understand how risks were controlled.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel noted the report and:

i)             That the report was published on the Council’s website.

ii)            That the annual report continued to be produced and presented at future Overview and Scrutiny Panels.