Agenda item

8.1

The Director of Human Resources and Customer Services and the Director of Legal and Governance submitted a joint report providing an overview of the complaints received, and formally referred and determined by the three Ombudsmen (Local Government Ombudsman, Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman) during the twelve months from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. The report also identified future developments and areas for improvement in complaint management.

8.2

Andrew Fellows, Customer Services Manager, responded to questions from Members of the Committee as follows:-

·      Despite numbers of formal complaints to the Council going down, complaints were still being made. However, these may be being dealt with through an informal route. It was difficult to conclude this definitely, however, as complaints resolved informally were not recorded.

·      Officers undertook post-closure monitoring and would liaise with service managers to ensure that a complaint had been addressed. The complaint was kept open until officers were satisfied this was the case.

·      Evidence such as the large number of complaints received regarding tree felling showed that people were aware of the Council’s complaints process.

8.3

RESOLVED: That the report, now submitted, be noted.