Agenda item

To receive the Customer Feedback Reports for 2022-23.

The Cabinet Member: Finance, Customer Services & Governance presented the report of the Director: Communities, Customer and Commercial Services.

The report provided an update on the Council’s Customer Feedback between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 in order to provide assurance that the Council’s response to complaints was effective and that lessons were learnt and continual improvement to services made.

Approval was sought to adopt the policy for dealing with complaints concerning CSE as set out in Appendix D to the report.

There had been new challenges during the year for the Council, residents and customers due to the cost of living crisis and an increased demand on services, particularly in relation to financial support.

Compliments had continued to increase year on year with 566 compliments being received, an increase of 19% during the reporting period, from 475 the previous year.  This equated to a 95% increase over the last four years.

A total of 656 complaints were received across the Council in 2022/23 which was a 13% reduction from 759 in the previous year.

The number of Children’s Statutory Complaints decreased during the year to the lowest number received in 8 years   Adult Statutory Complaints had a slight increase to 35 from 33 in 2021/22.

Corporate complaint response times were down from 12 days to 11 days for a response.

There had been a continuation of the Mystery Customer programme, customer satisfaction surveys and back to the floor exercises.  The Corporate Contact Centre  had achieved a 91% performance target with 99% of calls being handled within 10 minutes. 

The Council were working with individuals with lived experience to help shape policies and there was an opportunity for complainants to access support and services.

Cabinet Members welcomed the report and encouraged the receipt of both compliments and complaints as they started vital conversations.  They noted the reduction in children’s statutory complaints and the cut to response times to often complex complaints.  The 95% increase in compliments spoke as a testament to the work of officers.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat group welcomed the report and the direction of travel in relation to complaints on children’s and adult services.  He thanked the public for being the eyes and ears of the Borough and encouraged the public to continue reporting issues.  The Council had an excellent track record of being open and accessible and asked that the Council continued to maintain telephone access for residents as this remained an important feature.

The Leader discussed the report and the effective work that was undertaken with local residents.  It was important that the Council remained accessible via extended contact centre hours, letters, telephone and the use of the app.  The Members’ enquiry system was a useful system that was used to track enquiries and response times in order for members to undertake their casework.   Compliments and complaints enabled the Council not to become complacent or defensive but ambitious backed up by facts and evidence.

RESOLVED – that:

a)    the Customer Feedback Reports for 2022-23 in respect of Adult Statutory Complaints, Children’s Statutory Complaints and Corporate Customer Feedback be reviewed;

b)   the reduction in complaints received in 2022/23, the increase in positive feedback and the improvement in complaint handing performance;

c)    the new Policy and Procedure for Complaints involving Child Sexual Exploitation attached at Appendix D be approved; and

d)     delegated authority be granted to the Director for Communities, Customer & Commercial Services in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, Customer Services and Governance to make amendments to the policy going forward in line with changes to the appropriate legislation and other relevant information.