Interviews with: Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Hotson, Ellie Kershaw, Policy and Programmes Manager, Sam Bailey, Research and Performance Officer, Martyn Jeynes, Environmental Enforcement Manager and John Foster, Regeneration and Economic Development Manager.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Hotson, introduced the Quarter 3 Complaints Report. Sam Bailey, Research and Performance Officer informed the Committee on report’s main points:

·  Complaints had dropped by approximately a third. 102 complaints had been received, compared with 151 the previous quarter;

·  102 stage 1 complaints were received. 98 were responded to on time, an improvement of 3% from previous quarter;

·  Waste collection saw a dramatic reduction in complaints; from 31 last quarter to 6 this quarter.  This was attributed to the removal of the green sack collection;

·  A large number of compliments have been received;

·  Two services that received more compliments than complaints were Waste Collection and Customer Services; and

·  It was explained that both these services had high levels of contact with the public.

Martin Jeynes, Environmental Enforcement Manager, was invited to update the Committee on the rise in complaints relating to Environmental Enforcement and Litter Enforcement Officers. The service had received 21 complaints this quarter; 16 related to the conduct of Litter Enforcement Officers.  Mr Jeynes made the following points:

·  The rise in complaints was unexpected and could be attributed to the pressures of Christmas and the economic climate;

·  Complaints were rarely to dispute the actual issue of the Fixed Penalty Notice issue which was seen as positive;

·  It was often an embarrassing and confrontational situation for the recipient and the only recourse available was to complain or appeal;

·  Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) was working with in partnership with the contractors to provide Litter Enforcement Officers with training in customer service and conflict management;

·  CCTV recording equipment was used when issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (the Committee was shown the uniform worn by Officers with the CCTV camera attached); 

·  The person being issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) was informed that they would be recorded;

·  The CCTV recording was used when complaints were being investigated;

·  In cases where the person being fined was violent or provided incorrect contact details, a FPN would not be issued, they would proceed straight to prosecution.

·  Of the 300 appeals cases against the issue of the FPN taken to the Magistrates court, only one case had been upheld.

The Committee considered the communication difficulties that could occur between Officers and non-English speakers being issued an FPN which could lead to a complaint. Mr Jeynes informed Members that he was investigating the use of language identification cards, similar to those used by the Police service but this was not felt to be a prevalent issue.  The Committee recommended that the officer also investigate the plausibility of a language translation phone service.

John Foster, Regeneration and Economic Development Manager, provided an update on complaints reported during the previous quarter relating to trips and falls as a result of the new High Street scheme.  Mr Foster informed Members that complaints had dramatically decreased this quarter due to the adjustments made to the High Street.  The bus stop on King Street had the carriageway replaced with black tarmac which provided a contrast with the pavement. This had reduced the amount of falls on the High Street.  The Committee were advised that the Council would continue to monitor the situation.

It was recommended that

a)  The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services investigate the use of a language translation phone service and language identification cards used by the police service to assist Litter Enforcement Officers issuing Fixed Penalty Notices to non-English Speakers and update the Committee on the outcome; and

b)  The Committee keep a watching brief on the impact on complaints of the measures implemented to assist Litter Enforcement Officers issuing Fixed Penalty Notice to non-English speakers in future complaints monitoring reports.