Agenda item

To present the report of the Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Monitoring Officer which provided an outline of issues arising under the Council’s Concerns and Complaints Policy for the period from 1st April, 2015 to 31st March, 2016 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report also included a high level summary of whistleblowing issues notified during the same period as well as Social Services complaints where the complainant is not a service user.

(Councillor Peter Rogers declared a prejudicial interest in this matter and did not participate in the discussion and determination thereof. Mrs Sharon Warnes informed the Committee that she was a member of the Public Services Ombudsman’s Advisory Board)

The Monitoring Officer highlighted the following considerations:

•           That during the said period, 261 concerns were recorded and 59 formal complaints were received.

•           The number of complaints received has fallen to 59 from 65 in 2014/15 and from 66 in 2013/14.The highest recorded number of complaints since statistics have been collected was in 2011/12 when 89 complaints were recorded under the Policy.

•           The overall response to complaints issued within the specified time limit (20 working days) is 70%.

•           Of the 59 complaints received during the periods, 10 were upheld in full, 6 were partially upheld and 43 were not upheld. 5 complaints were referred to the Ombudsman but none was accepted for investigation. A breakdown of concerns and complaints by service is provided at paragraph 8.

•           The Council also records compliments received, and 561 were recorded during the relevant period. In addition, 2,059 positive comments were received at the Oriel and 513 at the Breakwater Country Park. A breakdown of compliments by service is provided at paragraph 9.

•           The Concerns and Complaints Policy places an emphasis on learning lessons from complaints and thereby improving services. The issues noted in paragraph 10 of the report were identified as lessons learnt, but none required any formal action plans to be put in place.

•           During 2015/16, 5 complaints were made to the Ombudsman which all related to the Planning and Public Protection Services. Having looked at the complaints and the Council’s responses, the Ombudsman decided not to investigate the complaints.

•           A summary of the complaints against Elected Members is provided at paragraph 12 of the report.

•           One Language related complaint was received during the year which is recorded in the breakdown of complaints under the Lifelong Learning Service and also in paragraph 10 under lessons learnt.

•           A summary of whistleblowing complaints reported by services for 2015/16 is provided at paragraph 12 of the report.

The Committee considered the report and it noted the following matters: 

•           The Committee noted that the 261 concerns and 59 complaints received had led to the identification of only three lessons to be leant and it was suggested that this amount of feedback should be generating more learning opportunities for the Authority and that the Authority should be looking to style itself as a learning authority. The Committee was informed that 207 of the concerns were registered by the Waste Management Service and these related to the same issue namely a change in the Council’s charging policy for the collection of bulky waste. The change was adopted and implemented without simultaneously reviewing the work processes  that supported it including the telephone function and it led to a volume of public interest and inquiries  which the service could not cope with and created a backlog of calls and attempted payments. The Corporate Transformation Team has worked with the service to address the systems and processes. The number of concerns recorded for the subsequent quarter for the same service was 13 of which 5 related to the telephone system which represents a significant improvement and indicates that the issue is being addressed and that a lesson has been learnt that any policy changes should be accompanied by a review of the supporting processes. More generally, work on improving the interface between systems and customer service by moving towards the increased digitisation of processes is ongoing alongside work to introduce, facilitate and promote alternative payment methods. The recommendations also recognise that lessons learnt is an area for development.

•           The Committee asked about the availability of comparative information with other authorities so that it can gain a better idea of where the Council stands in the context of its peers. The Monitoring Officer referred to the number of complaints received by two other North Wales authorities in the same period considered to be high performing authorities, which was higher.

•           The Committee noted and welcomed the information with regard to whistleblowing as testimony of staff being aware of the policy and being sufficiently confident that in invoking it, they will be heard and their concerns followed up.

•           The Committee noted that the number of complaints is on a downward trajectory and that the Authority has received a number of compliments, and it was satisfied by the update provided that lessons have been learnt from the complaints and concerns received. Notwithstanding, the Committee noted that a low number of complaints can also be indicative of a low level of information about the complaints procedure and/or poor expectations of being heard although it was satisfied that this was not the case in Anglesey.

It was resolved that the Committee –

•           Accepts the report as providing reasonable assurance that the Council is compliant with its Concern and Complaints Policy and Whistleblowing Policy.

•           Agrees that Officers undertake further work with a view to ensuring that the process shall include more emphasis on the following:

•           capturing lessons learnt, and changes arising therefrom, and implemented by services;

•           analysing the overall corporate data and using the information to best effect;

•           assessing whether there is a parallel role and complementary role for the Corporate Scrutiny Committee to consider any emerging patterns.

NO FURTHER ACTION ENSUING