Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

It was resolved –

·      To note and accept the Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) 2022/23.

·      To support the implementation of the PSOW’s Model Policy.

·      To support the development of a training strategy.

·      To support the development of a training needs assessment and the rollout of suitable training as required.

·      To authorise the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer to write to the PSOW to confirm that the Executive has given formal consideration to her Annual Letter and agreed to the implementation of elements referred to in her Annual Letter.

·      To provide assurance that the Council will continue to monitor complaints thereby providing Members with the information required to scrutinise the Council’s performance.

The report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer incorporating the Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) for 2022/23 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The Letter summarises the performance of the Council in relation to the service complaints received and their outcomes during the year in question as well as cases involving the Ombudsman’s intervention. A section on complaints made under the Code of Conduct for Members is also included.

The headline messages as conveyed by the Annual Letter were presented by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer. Those were that 25 service complaints against the Council were lodged with the PSOW, down from 29 the previous year. Of those, 20 did not require an investigation by the PSOW’s Office. The remaining 5 were dealt with by way of early resolution. One Code of Conduct complaint was made against a member of the County Council but was not investigated, and one complaint was also made against a Town/Community Councillor during 2022/23 but was discontinued prior to its investigation. In her Annual Letter the PSOW asks that the Council takes action in respect of bringing the letter to the attention of the Governance and Audit Committee and the Executive, continuing to engage with the PSOW’s complaints standards work, accessing training for staff, implementing the model policy and providing accurate and timely complaints data. The Monitoring Officer gave assurances that those actions are in hand and confirmed that the Council does provide quarterly complaints data in accordance with the timescale set by the Complaints Standards Agency. Confirmation of the above will be sent to the PSOW following this meeting.

It was resolved –

·      To note and accept the Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) 2022/23.

·      To support the implementation of the PSOW’s Model Policy.

·      To support the development of a training strategy.

·      To support the development of a training needs assessment and the rollout of suitable training as required.

·      To authorise the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer to write to the PSOW to confirm that the Executive has given formal consideration to her Annual Letter and agreed to the implementation of elements referred to in her Annual Letter.

·      To provide assurance that the Council will continue to monitor complaints thereby providing Members with the information required to scrutinise the Council’s performance.