Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

Councillor Mullin introduced the report which shared the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) Annual Letter 2021-22 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 2021-22.

The Chief Officer (Governance) welcomed Matthew Harris, Head of Complaints Standards Authority, who was in attendance to provide an overview of the Ombudsman’s role and Annual Letters.

The report also provided an overview of complaints received by each portfolio of the Council between 1^st April – 30^th September 2022.

The Customer Contact Service Manager explained that in 2021/22, 99 complaints had been made against Flintshire which was an increase from the previous year, which was 59 complaints received.  The figure reflected the Ombudsman’s findings that complaints against local authorities had increased by 47%.  However, whilst a higher than average figure, it should not be viewed unfavourably because 80% of the complaints to the Ombudsman were closed because they were out of jurisdiction, premature or closed after initial consideration. 

Complaints were a valuable source of information which enabled the Council to improve its services. 

Matthew Harris complimented the authority on engaging with their complaint’s standards work and utilising the training offered by the Ombudsman.  It demonstrated that the Council was committed to continuing to improve processes in the future.  There was good practice which had originated in Flintshire, in relation to social media, that had been shared around Wales.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the annual performance of the Council in respect of complaints made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales during 2021-22 be noted;

(b)       That the 2022-23 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 further improve complaints handling across the Council be supported.