Issue - meetings

That the Committee:

(a)       Notes the annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (2018-19) and local complaints made against services in the first half of 2019-20;

(b)       Supports the Council’s review of its complaints procedure upon receipt of the Ombudsman’s model concerns and complaints policy for public service providers in Wales; and

(c)       Supports the actions outlined in 1.18 of the report to improve local complaints handling.

The Customer Contact Service Manager presented the report to share the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) Annual Letter 2018-19 together with an overview of complaints against Council services in the first half of 2019/20.  The report also set out new legislative powers due to be implemented by the PSOW in early 2020.

Whilst there had been an overall increase in the number of complaints about Welsh local authorities during the period, the PSOW had welcomed the steps taken to reduce this number through early resolution.  In Flintshire, the number of complaints received against the Council remained static with 70% deemed premature as the complainants had not exhausted the Council’s complaints procedure before referring to the PSOW.

During the first half of 2019-20, a total of 371 complaints had been received by the Council with an improvement shown in response times.  In recognition of areas for improvement and general learning, a number of actions were planned including a review of procedures.

The Chief Executive spoke about the positive relationship between the officers and the PSOW office.  In welcoming the feedback on the early resolution of complaints, he said that the report reflected the improvements made in response to actions agreed at the workshop.  Since the workshop, Members had not raised any specific patterns of complaints for him to review and address.

In response to comments from Councillor Bateman, officers explained that the highest number of complaints about Planning mirrored the trend across the UK.  Clarification was also given to the Chairman on the criteria for complaints.

Councillor Mullin referred to the size of the organisation and said that the number of low-level complaints were dealt with promptly.

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Johnson and seconded by Councillor Bateman.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

(a)       Notes the annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (2018-19) and local complaints made against services in the first half of 2019-20;

(b)       Supports the Council’s review of its complaints procedure upon receipt of the Ombudsman’s model concerns and complaints policy for public service providers in Wales; and

(c)       Supports the actions outlined in 1.18 of the report to improve local complaints handling.