Agenda item
Complaints Report
Minutes:
Ms Raj Chand, Director of Customer Services presented the complaints report and said this report had been requested by the Committee. She said the report set out how complaints are responded to from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the lessons learnt. Ms Chand said the annual review letter referred to earlier by members was appended to the report and said the number of complaints had reduced from 47 in 2018/19 to 39 complaints in 2020/21. She said the performance percentage had increased from 34% to 69% but further work was required to improve the response rate. Ms Chand referred members to the historical issues set out at paragraph 2.4 of the report and the service improvements set out at paragraph 2.9. She said steps were being taken to improve the handling of LGSCO complaints, with better use of technology, guidance and a outcomes-based protocol.
Referring to the LGSCO letter, appended at Appendix 1, the statistical data showed 83% of complaints were upheld, with 95% of recommendations being implemented, with 4% of complaints being judged as being satisfactorily remedied by the Council. Ms Chand said with the service improvements cited she hoped further progress could be made.
Ms Chand also said the Information Governance structure was also being reviewed to see how complaints handling, members enquiries and information requests are processed and responded to.
In response to questions and comments from members the following was noted:
- The Chair said it was good the report recognised the missed timescales, for the areas covered by the Information Governance team. The Chair gave an example of a missed deadline for a housing association query that she had raised and said it was important for the Council to ensure the data and records it held aligned with Registered Providers. Ms Chand responded stating work was ongoing in relation to this and she had met with the Tower Hamlets Housing Forum, together with members of the General Purposes Committee to ensure the data held was accurate and that there is continued dialogue between them.
- Councillor Edgar commented that the letter from the LGSCO was blunt and said they had made helpful suggestions on how to improve the complaint process. He said he was encouraged by the trends and said it gave some measure to drive change in the handling of complaints. Councillor Edgar said it was important to ensure communication with complainants was clear and timely. Ms Chand responded stating she agreed with the observations made by Councillor Edgar and said a key part of the review would be to complete the circle, in terms of how the Customer had found the complaint handling process. Ms Chand offered to provide an annual and/or quarterly report on complaints if this was what the Committee wanted.
- Councillor Khan asked why the letter from the LGSCO published in July 2021, was coming to the Committee in December 2021. Referring to the letter she said the 25 upheld decisions related to Adult Social Care, Housing and Recycling. Councillor Khan said these were distressing to read and said it was critical to understand how the Directorates had learnt lessons and had improved services. In response the Chair said this was the first time the Committee had asked for a report on complaints and said she’d welcome future reports to the Committee. She said the suggestion to which directorates and services the complaints related to could be incorporated in future reports.
- ACTION: The Audit Committee to receive on an annual basis a report outlining the number of complaints referred to the LGSCO and the number upheld. The report is to include the annual review letter from the LGSCO and provide a breakdown on the areas and Directorates the complaints relate to and the remedial action taken by the service.
The Audit Committee RESOLVED to:
- Complaints referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)
- The LGSCO Annual Review Letter
- Lessons learnt/ service improvements made to the complaints process
Supporting documents:
- 2021.11.24 Audit Committee Report Complaints legal comments, item 4.6 PDF 246 KB
- london borough of tower hamlets Annual Rev letter 2021, item 4.6 PDF 118 KB