Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee notes the improving annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales during 2022-23;

(b)       That the Committee notes the half year performance of the Council (2023-24) in respect of complaints made to services in line with the concerns and complaints procedure;

(c)       That the Committee supports the priorities outlined in paragraph 1.24 to continuously improve complaints handling; and

(d)       That the Committee notes the lessons learned from the developing complaints procedure.

The Customer Contact Service Manager introduced the report on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) Annual Letter which summarised the Council’s performance on complaints investigated during 2022-23.  The report also included an overview of complaints received by each portfolio during the first half of 2023-24.

In general, this was a positive report showing a decrease in the number of complaints made against the Council since 2021-22, with the vast majority being closed due to being either premature, rejected or withdrawn by the complainant.  Of the 65 complaints received, only five cases required intervention by the PSOW, all of which resulted in early resolution.  Improvements to the process were detailed along with the Council’s involvement in the PSOW ‘own initiative’ investigation.  A summary of performance for the first half of 2023-24 showed a slight increase in the number of complaints and evidence of improved complaints handling across the Council.  Further opportunities for improvement were being progressed through the establishment of a complaints officer group, ongoing workforce training programmes and the development of a toolkit on managing customer contact for schools and elected Members.

Matthew Harris, Head of the Complaints Standards Authority, was in attendance and thanked the Service Manager for the detailed report which demonstrated positive intervention rates and awareness of complaints.  In response to a question from the Chair, he gave examples of the types of premature and rejected complaints by the PSOW.

Sally Ellis welcomed the progress made by the Council.  On the analysis of complaints appended to the report, she said that the Committee should be given assurance that actions identified for employees were being fed into the performance and development process and that lessons learned were helping to inform preparation of the Annual Governance Statement or Corporate Plan.  The Service Manager agreed to feedback these points to the complaints officer group.

In response to Councillor Glyn Banks’s comments on areas with high numbers of complaints, it was explained that the officer group would ensure that actions identified from complaints would be extracted to improve services.  As requested, Matthew Harris provided clarification on the ‘own initiative’ investigation which was the second investigation of this type initiated by the PSOW office.

In response to a question from the Chair, background was shared on some of the future priorities identified in the report.

Following a suggestion by Brian Harvey, the recommendations were amended to reflect the debate, as moved and seconded by Councillors Glyn Banks and Ted Palmer.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee notes the improving annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales during 2022-23;

(b)       That the Committee notes the half year performance of the Council (2023-24) in respect of complaints made to services in line with the concerns and complaints procedure;

(c)       That the Committee supports the priorities outlined in paragraph 1.24 to continuously improve complaints handling; and

(d)       That the Committee notes the lessons learned from the developing complaints procedure.