Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman gave details of arrangements in case of fire or other event which may require the evacuation of the meeting room or building.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2019 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

It was noted that the new IT system in Housing had led to a system of accountability by service area which allowed complaints to be resolved in a quicker timescale.

Report and appendices attached.

The data presented showed a considerable improvement in quarter 4 (Q4) results for complaints. Changes t corporate timescales had led to a reduced performance on stage 2 complaints in February 2019 but this had recovered in March to 93%. This new way of working allowed more time for a complaints investigation.

There had been a rise in the number of statutory complaints received fir both adults and children’s social care. Whilst response times had improved from 49% to 63% a revised method of managing these complaints was being considered.

Officers felt that the rise in adult social care complaints had been principally due to issues relating to the Allied Healthcare company failing nationally as a company. Other providers supported adult social care in taking on care packages that Allied Healthcare were no longer able to provide. One alternative provider in particular took on a significant number of new packages resulting in an increase in issues such as late or missed calls. The issues that emerged were dealt with they become known, however the service did see an increase in complaints as a result.  The Director of Adult Services added that she regretted the poor quality experienced by residents during this period. A Member thanked the director for her work to deal with the Allied Healthcare situation.

Most children’s services complaints related to service standards and issues around social worker behaviour. Of the four stage 2 complaints received, two had now been resolved and two were ongoing. Officers would provide a breakdown of complaints by area of Havering and this could be included within a future annual report to the Committee.

Only one Ombudsman complaint had been upheld with a penalty. There had also only been one stage 3 corporate complaint in the period under review and this had not been upheld. Only 7 of 64 corporate complaints referred to the Ombudsman had been upheld.

The Committee noted the report.

The Committee is invited to suggest items for its work programme for the coming municipal year.

It was agreed that the quarterly update on quarterly and statutory complaints should continue to be taken at each meeting. The annual complaints reports for adults and children’s services would be brought to the August meeting of the Committee. The Annual Letter from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman would be brought to the March meeting.

It was also agreed that a presentation would be taken at the August meeting on how the complaints process currently worked and variations in how complaints are dealt with in areas such as housing and social care. The Committee would then decide if any further scrutiny work of the complaints process was needed and agree the scope of this.