Agenda item

Anita Hunt, Feedback and Information Governance Manager introduced a report which provided the Committee with an update on complaints performance, learning from complaints and the Local Government Ombudsman Annual Letter. Following discussion of the report, the following was noted:

a.    The Committee was advised that the process for learning from complaints had been revised, which comprised of the following key stages: FIG circulated quarterly reports which set out Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints as well as details of upheld Ombudsman complaints; services considered those reports at internal senior management team meetings; services fed back to FIG on the actions, changes and learning that had been incorporated; SOG would then receive a quarterly report on the learning and actions.

b.    The Ombudsman expressed concern about Haringey’s timelines in implementing remedies. The implementation of a regular formal report to Council on all ombudsman investigations where fault/ maladministration was found, was being put in place.

c.    The Committee sought assurances around a shortage of qualified officers and high volumes of complaints which had led to a backlog. In response, officers advised that following a recruitment drive, Revenues currently had all of its posts filled. The Benefits team currently had 8 vacancies, which was compounded by the fact that it took 9 months to train a Benefits Officer. In order to mitigate staff shortages, the service had recently taken on  a 3rd party provider to provide additional staffing resources. However, the service was no longer employing temporary staff. Officers also advised that overall, there was a clear strategic  impetus towards a digital channel shift.

d.    The Committee raised concerns with response times to urgent enquiries and queried whether there was anything that could be done to improve the process, particularly with the advent of a number of new Councillors in May. Officers responded that there was an urgent enquiry procedure in place and advised that Member Enquiries marked as urgent should illicit a response that day.

e.    The Committee sought assurances around the ratio of managers to staff and overall staff levels, in response officers advised that this seemed to be managed quite well.

f.     In response to a query around what could be done to improve performance around complaints further, officers advised that the key was continued performance monitoring and ensuring that individuals and services took ownership for responding to complaints and developing learning points.

g.    The Committee sought clarification on the additional staff being provided by the third party company. Officers responded that the 8 vacancies were being covered by 7 people from the external company who had been in place since May. The backlog of complaints pre-dated the utilisation of the third party company and a significant improvement in performance was anticipated.

h.    The Committee requested that it be kept informed of complaints performance and suggested that regular reports be submitted to the Committee. The Committee also proposed that an annual report be taken to the Executive and that this should include an assessment of Ombudsman investigations were fault/maladministration was found. The Committee was advised that the most appropriate forum for this report was Corporate Committee. (Action: Clerk/Feedback and Information Governance Manger.)

RESOLVED

The Committee noted the information contained in the report.