Agenda item

The item was introduced by Matt Biggs, who advised members that since the report was published, additional data quality checks had identified some small updates to the figures quoted. He said that of the 212 complaints relating to children and families that were closed during 2022/23, 140, or 66 per cent, were remedied by providing an explanation; 72, or 24 per cent were remedied by providing an apology; in 22 cases, or 10.4 per cent, a service was provided; five cases, or 2.4 per cent, were remedied by changing a process; and in two cases, or 0.9 per cent, a financial remedy was given. The Committee was also told that in 2022/2023 apologies were the most common remedy and accounted for 93, or 71 per cent, of all complaints. Providing explanations accounted for 56, or 42.7 per cent, of complaints and providing a service accounted for 13, or 9.9 per cent of complaints. One remedy each referred to changing a process and a financial remedy, which was 0.8 per cent each. Finally, in relation to Education Services, lessons learned were recorded for 44, or 33.6 per cent, of closed complaints in 2022/2023; 17, or 13 per cent related to process adjustments; nine, or 6.9 per cent, addressed lessons regarding communication; and two, or 1.5 of the total lessons learned, related to application delays.

Matt Biggs said three ways of improving complaints management had been identified. The first was to manage them more proactively. Analysis showed that, particularly in relation to complaints regarding school admissions, some complaints could have been prevented if they had been handled differently. The second point was to establish the required outcome of the complaint. The third was use of empathy, and the importance of acknowledging that a complaint being made was a reflection of a customer’s frustration. This was particularly important to consider in issues where a child was involved.

Members were told a new admissions team lead had been appointed and was working to establish how complaints could be managed more effectively. It had been identified there were many part time members of staff in the admissions team, and some complaints had arisen from customers not having a named point of contact, or not being able to get in contact with the person they had made their initial enquiry with and having to repeat themselves and having the answer to their question delayed. It was highlighted that the report recorded 51 per cent of complaints relating to admissions were because of communication issues. Additionally, 46 per cent of complaints were resolved through an explanation of the problem. Matt Biggs said this demonstrated that a significant proportion of the complaints could have been prevented. To handle this officers were being given specific geographic areas to cover so their knowledge of the schools would improve, and to convey to parents when they would next be at work and therefore be in a position to answer their query. This would avoid the need for parents to have to make multiple calls to resolve an issue, and potentially avoid a complaint being made.

Some complaints to the children and families service area related to parents’ concerns at quality of learning provision. In these instances parents would be advised to contact the school. However concerns regarding safeguarding and special educational needs would still be handled by the Council. Ross Caws (Acting Head of SEND and Inclusion) said the majority of complaints regarding SEND related to Education, Health and Care Plans and requests for assessments. There was significant demand for this service and there wasn’t the necessary staffing capacity to handle all interactions with parents. There had been 1,300 requests for an EHCP last year, compared to 690 the year before.

Dan Atkins (Service Manager, Children and Families) told members about the complaints process and explained there was a three-stage escalation process. In the majority of cases, complaints were resolved at the first stage and often a conversation was all that was needed to settle a complaint. Dan Atkins said apologies would be used to acknowledge that something could have been done better, and officers also had the opportunity to take on board lessons learned. He added customers would also respond positively when a remedy had been made, but often these could not be formally recorded as a comment or a compliment.

Councillor Jill Simpson-Vince acknowledged comments made about a lack of communication or clarity. She said she had seen messages on social media that amounted to a complaint and had had to intervene on a resident’s behalf before the online comments got out of hand. Councillor Jerry Roodhouse agreed, stating the majority of people would be satisfied if their situation was adequately explained to them.

Responding to a question from Councillor Barbara Brown on EHCPs and co-production, Ross Caws said the Council’s SEND Member Panel was looking at how all the groups involved fitted together and what everyone’s role was. The Council worked closely with the Parent Carers Forum and had updated the website relating to the Local Offer and launched an Inclusion Charter. Ross Caws said officers were due to meet with representatives from the Department for Education the following week, and was confident that demonstrable progress in relation to co-production could be shown. The number of children with an EHCP had increased from 2,700 in 2014 to 5,500. More issues were being resolved through mediation instead of having to go to a full appeal. However due to the demand for the service and staffing capacity issues, there had been complaints from parents that they had not been adequately kept up to date with the progress of their application.

Councillor Clare Golby said she was pleased a single point of contact would be given to customers in future. She noted that 140 complaints were resolved through an explanation, and queried if this meant if the information being given to parents was sufficiently clear for them to understand. She asked if the information was peer reviewed by the public. Ross Caws said members of the Parent Carer Voice forum were involved in rewriting the wording of the standard letters, and these would be reviewed every two to three years. More ways of supporting parents with better information were being identified. A recent headteachers’ conference had had a focus on special educational needs and what more could be done to provide support to schools and to improve that relationship between the Council and schools. The results of the Your Say staff survey had identified officers had raised concerns over their workload.

Members noted the contents of the report.