Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Culture, Strategy, and Engagement. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Resident Services & Tackling Inequality.

This report provides an update on how we are seeking to learn from the feedback we receive from residents and use this to shape and improve our services. Appendix one will also provide the annual data for staff compliments, complaints, Members Enquiries, Freedom of Information requests and Ombudsman cases.

Cllr Hakata returned to the room at 7.11pm.

The Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality introduced the report which put forward annual data for staff compliments, complaints, members enquiries and ombudsman cases.

In response to questions from Cllr Hakata and Cllr Barnes, the following information was noted:

-       Regarding developing cultural change within the services for responding to complaints, this was a continued leadership priority and meant changing to a borough that listens. This objective was being facilitated in a variety of ways through staff training, management oversight, engagement with residents, proactively providing information to mitigate complaints and enquiries. Furthermore, developing a culture that complaints were everyone's responsibility and considered as a nugget of insight.

-       The members inquiry email inbox was temporarily unavailable in the previous week, and this was an IT glitch and resolved quite promptly.

-       Children’s social care services related complaints were often long and complex and could be delayed due a number of factors including awaiting a case verdict, a report from a psychologist, a report from an independent inquiry, or needing to look through extensive files. The Director for Children’s Services added that, usually whilst the complaint is being processed, the social work team will need to prioritise continuing working with the family. However, the social workers will be aware that management need to answer the complaint and usually at earlier stages of a complaint, this will happen. However, when it became more complicated, such as a care proceedings case with a child subject to protection plan, then the social worker will carry on with the work trying to resolve the issues in real time rather than respond to the complaint. In relation to the specific information in the report on the response rate, of 2 cases out of 28 responded to on time, the Director would make contact with the Feedback Manager on this issue.

-       Regarding the increased number of complaints progressed through the Ombudsman and upheld against Haringey by the Housing Ombudsman, which was more than double from the previous year, the reason for the increase was the change in how housing complaints were classified and reported according to the previous government’s guidance.

RESOLVED

To note the contents of this report and the appendices.

Reasons for decision

N/A as non- key decision