Agenda item

7.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Operational Services and Monitoring Officer which provided an overview of the complaints received, and formally referred and determined by the three Ombudsmen (Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman,

Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman) during the twelve months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. The report also identified future developments and areas for improvement in complaint management.

7.2

Corleen Bygraves-Paul (Service Delivery Manager) and Jennie Everill (Operational Manager) gave a presentation to the Committee and the key points to note were: -

7.3

Jennie Everill explained there was 124 complaints received by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) relating to the Council in 2022/23. This was a 9% increase from the previous year.

7.4

The average response times to 23 initial enquires made by the LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman (HO) was 30 calendar days (21 working days) with 87% of responses meeting the original or initial agreed revised deadline. The delays in responding were mainly due to late or incomplete service comments and the annual leave of key officers.

7.5

During 2022/23, 19 complaints were upheld by the LGSCO. The Housing Ombudsman determined 5 complaints and made 12 individual complaint findings. In total the Council paid £45455.12 in compensatory payments.

7.6

The LGSCO upheld 73% of the complaints that were formally investigated about Sheffield City Council. This was below the 77% average for similar authorities.

7.7

The Council had a 100% compliance rate with LGSCO recommendations.

7.8

The Housing Ombudsman reported a 62.5% maladministration rate for Sheffield City Council during 2022/23. During 2022/23, the Housing Ombudsman determined 5 complaints and made 12 individual complaint findings in respect of these complaints. 3 Complaint Handling Failure Orders were issued during 2022/23 by the HO.

7.9

When officers had previously attended this meeting, they agreed to share half yearly results. Therefore, the first half of 2023/24, overall, the council and its strategic partners (Amey and Veolia) dealt with 4033 complaints YTD (April – September 2023).  This compares to 9514 complaints in the previous year (2022/23).

7.10

The 2023/24 improvements and ongoing developments were shared with the Committee.

7.11

Members of the Committee asked questions and made comments and the key points to note were: -

7.12

Jennie Everil confirmed that when the Council complied with the Ombudsman’s recommendation then it always resulted in a satisfactory remedy.

7.13

Jennie Everil believed that the Council learnt from each complaint therefore mitigating reoccurring complaints.

7.14

A Member of the Committee congratulated officers on the 100% compliance rate. They asked if the Council was satisfied that external services such as Amey and Veolia were responding to complaints and providing the Council with their statistics.

Jennie Everil explained that the Council had regular meetings with those external services in which they shared information relating to complaints.

7.15

Corleen Bygraves-Paul stated that the Council were on a cultural transformation. She explained that the Council were ensuring all officers were prioritising complaints and keeping complainants up to date on the status of their complaint.

7.16

Corleen Bygraves-Paul explained that officers were working closely with services receiving the most complaints and that services were sharing best practice across the organisation.

7.17

RESOLVED: That the Audit & Standards Committee considers and notes the Annual Ombudsman Report.