Agenda item

The Chair reminded members that a revised report had been circulated with the most up to date information, and thanked officers for providing the latest version.

Craig Cusack (Assistant Director, Enabling Services) introduced the item and stated the report indicated services were making positive progress. The number of complaints for service areas of relevance to the Committee had decreased and the overall volume of cases had gone down. The proportion of complaints being made to these service areas had increased, which was attributed partly to some people making multiple complaints. Craig Cusack drew members’ attention to the fact that, annually, more cases were being handled solely by the Customer Relations Team, and this was helping to speed up resolution times for residents and improve the data held on the type of correspondence received and how they were responded to.

Councillor Tim Sinclair said he would have liked to have seen more detail on the CRM Dynamics. He said he had requested this at the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillor Sinclair asked if more detail and realistic timescales could be provided, and the benefits it would bring. Craig Cusack said the specific requirements of the CRM were being looked into, with the aim of being able to provide greater flexibility than the current system. He said the new Dynamics system would be able to be used to serve by the public in the autumn. This would include the system of submitting complaints and comments, the likes of which were summarised in the report to members. Members of the public would be able to log into a portal and see direct feedback from officers, and get responses much more quickly and easily. Responding to Councillor Sinclair, Craig Cusack said an update on the scheduling of subsequent Dynamics modules would be made available to members at the relevant Committee. Rob Powell (Strategic Director, Resources) said the information was already available to members through the quarterly the Integrated Delivery Plan reporting and data on Power BI. It had been necessary to delay implementation until assurance work had been completed to show that the plans would support changes introduced through the now delayed Government adult social care reforms.

Councillor Sarah Boad asked if there was a breakdown of statistics on how residents had contacted the Council to make a comment, complaint or compliment. She said more services were being provided online and there was a possibility residents who did not have internet access were being disadvantaged. Paul Aitken (Customer Relations Officer) said no breakdown was available, but said there were still a number of ways residents could get in touch. For example they were still able to send in letters, and services could be accessed in libraries. Rob Powell said it was now possible for residents to borrow electronic devices from libraries, and the Council wanted to cater for everyone’s individual preference. The Chair asked if a breakdown could be made available to members if this was not too onerous a task.

Councillor Sarah Feeney said she welcomed the section of the report on lessons learned, particularly as they were circulated back to the wider service area. Councillor Feeney said there could be some disputes that a resident would not have said qualified as a complaint, and asked how these were recorded. Craig Cusack said the complaints policy was being reviewed by Legal and any proposed changes were expected to be considered by Cabinet in October. He said officers were encouraged to resolve issues on the spot, as it was possible for a formal complaint to arise out of an issue not being dealt with in a timely manner. He said he hoped to be able to provide an update at a future meeting on how different complaints arose from different situations.

Members noted the contents of the report. The Chair thanked officers for bringing it to the Committee.