Issue - meetings

QUARTER 1 2021/22 - UPDATE ON CORPORATE COMPLAINTS

Meeting: 19/08/2021 - Adjudication & Review Committee (Item 8)

8 QUARTER 1 2021/22 - UPDATE ON CORPORATE COMPLAINTS pdf icon PDF 225 KB

Reports attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report and appendices before members updated the committee on complaint handling performance across all Council services.

 

The report highlighted the number of stage 1 complaints (660) and those that had been escalated to stage 2 (131) during the period of April to June 2021.

 

The report would normally compare the number of complaints with the previous year’s levels, however this was not possible as the previous year the complaints process was suspended during the 2020/21 quarter 1 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Members noted that when compared to the same quarter in 2019 there had been an increase of almost 35% in the number of complaints raised.

 

During quarter 1 there had been 14 decisions made by the LGSCO.

 

During the debate members asked if the complaint details could be broken down with a narrative to see if there was a trend of service areas not performing well and what could be done to address issues going forward. Officers undertook to provide a more detailed report in the future.

 

Members were advised that if there were particular areas of concern that the relevant senior manager of the service could be invited to future meetings to discuss service issues.

 

Members also noted that there had been large number of complaints relating to waste and recycling.

 

Officers advised that a number of factors during the pandemic had led to an increase in complaints for that particular service these included:

 

There had been a large increase in household refuse due to more people working from home which led taking longer to complete collections as the refuse vehicles were having to return to the depot to empty before returning to collections.

 

Members noted that there had also been a shortage of staff at times due to staff having to self-isolate or being unwell from Covid-19.

 

Officers had been working closely with the contractors, (Serco), who had taken on an additional 2 vehicles to assist with the collections. Members were also advised that there was currently a national shortage of heavy goods drivers, however the Council continued to work closely with Serco to maintain an efficient service.

 

Members also suggested that the table showing the complaint reasons be expanded to show which complaints had been upheld and the non-upheld complaints.

 

The committee noted the contents of the report and the appendices.