Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced the report the purpose of which was to share the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Annual Letter 2020-21 for Flintshire County Council.

            The Ombudsman’s Annual Letter provided an overview of the annual performance of the Council in relation to complaints investigated in 2020-21.

            The report also provided an overview of complaints received by each portfolio of the Council between the period 1^st April – 30^th September 2021.

            The number of complaints received by the Ombudsman about local authorities across Wales decreased by 12.5% in 2020-21 which reflected the reduction in complaints being reported by local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

            The Ombudsman intervened (upheld, settled or resolved at an early stage) the same proportion of complaints about public bodies, 20%, compared with 2019-20.

            35 of Flintshire’s complaints were premature and that accounted for 59% of the complaints.  Across North Wales the average number of premature complaints was 11.  That analysis explained that whilst the overall number of complaints made against Flintshire was high, it attributed to a higher than average number of premature complaints.

            There was a need to review how the authority promoted its own complaints procedure and the importance of keeping complainants informed about the progress of their complaint to reduce the number of premature referrals to the Ombudsman.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales during 2020-21 be noted;

(b)       That the 2021-22 half year performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to services in line with its complaints procedure be noted; and

(c)        That the actions outlined in the report to improve complaints handling across the Council be supported.