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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CORPORATE LEADERSHIP TEAM
8th JULY 2014
REPORT OF THE HEAD OF POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS
Report prepared by Sam Bailey
1. REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS JANUARY-MARCH 2014 (QUARTER 4);
1.1 Issue for Consideration
1.1.1
To
consider the Councils performance in dealing with complaints during January-March
2014 (quarter 4).
1.2 Recommendation of the Head of Policy and Communications
1.2.1 That the
Committee notes the performance in relation to complaints and makes
recommendations as appropriate.
1.2.2 That the Committee notes the compliments received by teams and individual officers within the Council.
1.3 Reasons for Recommendation
1.3.1 In order to ensure that complaints are being dealt with effectively and within corporate timescales it is important that a monitoring mechanism is in place.
1.3.2 Details of the complaints received broken down by service area, timeliness and category can be found at Appendix A. Complaints have been categorised, but many complaints will be about more than one element (e.g. both policy and staff attitude).
1.4 Quarter 4 Performance
1.4.1
Details
of quarter 4 complaints handling performance can be found in Appendix A.
1.4.2
During
quarter 4, 118 stage 1 complaints were closed, of which 116 (98.3%) were
responded to on time. This represents a 36% decrease in the overall number of
complaints received this quarter compared to the previous quarter. This also
represents an increase in performance in terms of answering complaints within
target time of 7.0%, as in quarter 3 91.3% of complaints were closed within target
time.
1.4.3 Of the complaints responded to outside the target time:
· One was about Benefits; and
·
One
was about Housing Options
1.4.4
The
reasons for these complaints being responded to out of time included:
·
The
complaint responded to late by Housing Options was responded to late as CCTV
footage had to be retrieved from the Gateway. The complainant was kept up to
date with the progress of the complaint throughout this time.
·
The
complaint responded to late by Benefits was responded to 5 days late. The
reason for this delay was that it was originally misallocated to the wrong
officer within the team.
1.5
Trends
Identified and Action Taken
1.5.1
The
services that dealt with the highest number of complaints were:
· Environmental Services (26);
· Parking Services (24);
· Development Management (13);and
·
Revenues
(13).
1.5.2
Environmental
Services had the highest number of complaints this quarter. There has been a
49% decrease in complaints received by this service compared to the previous
quarter. The number of complaints has been decreasing since Quarter 2 of
2013/2014 when the new waste contract was introduced. The number of complaints
for Environmental Services has returned to a more regular level now many of the
problems around the new waste contract have been resolved.
1.5.3
Parking
Services saw an unusually high number of complaints for quarter 4 (24). Of
these complaints, 12 were about service, 8 were about policy and 4 were about
staff. After further analysis of these complaints the following trends were
apparent:
·
Four
were about allegations of misconduct from Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs).
None of these were found to be justified;
·
Three
complaints were about requesting enforcement action on vehicles that are
persistently illegally parked;
·
Five
complaints were about the system of visitor or resident parking permits;
·
Three
were complaints about outstanding or recently closed PCNs;
·
Three
complaints were about work vehicles using resident permit bays; and
·
Six
complaints were about various other issues.
1.5.4
Parking
Services issued the most PCNs this quarter (see graph below for comparative
figures) compared to the first three quarters of the year. However not all
complaints were directly related to PCNs being issued and Parking Services
issued a similar number during the previous quarters and did not receive as
many complaints.
1.5.5
Development
Management received thirteen complaints this quarter. This is lower than the
previous quarters figure of 22 complaints. Eight of these complaints were
about service, three were about policy, one was about staff and one was about
time taken. The three complaints about policy were about planning decisions
that complainants were unhappy with. There were no other trends in the
complaints for development management during this quarter.
1.5.6
Revenues
received 13 complaints this quarter. This is an increase compared to quarter 3
when they received 9 complaints. Of these complaints, nine were about service,
three were about policy and one was about discrimination. The three policy
complaints were all about the localised council tax support scheme, in
particular the reduced council tax exemptions given for empty properties. The
complaint about discrimination is covered in paragraph 1.9.1.
1.5.7
Of
the nine complaints about service for Revenues, three were about the conduct of
bailiffs acting on behalf of the council. During quarter 4 there were 234
accounts that were sent to the bailiffs for collection, representing 1.3% of
cases sent to collection resulting in a complaint. This is a low proportion
considering the nature of the complaint. It is also worth noting that quarter 4
saw the lowest number of accounts sent to bailiffs for collection during 2013/2014.
There were no other trends in complaints received for revenues.
1.5.8
Other
trends that can be noticed compared to the previous quarter are:
·
Housing
Options have seen a 50% drop in complaints made against them (16 in quarter 3
compared to 8 in quarter 4)
·
Customer
Services have seen a 50% drop in complaints made against them (8 in quarter 3
compared to 4 in quarter 4)
·
Parks
and Leisure have seen a significant drop in complaints, from 17 received in
quarter 3 down to 4 in quarter 4
1.5.9
Three
complaints received during this quarter were about the councils response to
the floods during January. Of these complaints, two were alleging that the
council prioritised other areas over the complainants own. The other complaint
was about not receiving sandbags to the complainants door, instead being asked
to pick them up from a particular area.
1.6
Stage
2 Complaints
1.6.1
17
stage 2 complaints were received this quarter. This is a significant drop in
the number of stage 2 complaints received, as 39 were received in quarter 3.
However the number of stage 2 complaints received in quarter 3 was
exceptionally high. All stage 2 complaints were responded to on time this
quarter. A breakdown of stage 2 complaints can be found in Appendix C.
1.6.2
Of
these stage 2 complaints, 4 were justified. No stage 2 complaints resulted in
payments or compensation this quarter.
1.7 Complaints Handling Satisfaction
1.7.1
A
breakdown of complaints satisfaction surveys can be found in Appendix B. For quarter
4, 36 complaints satisfaction surveys were returned. This represents a response
rate of 30.5%.
1.7.2
41.7%
of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the way their complaint
was handled. 2.7% of respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. 55.5%
of respondents were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the way in which
their complaint was handled.
1.7.3
Of
the services that received four or more satisfaction surveys back,
Environmental Services received the highest proportion of respondents who were
satisfied or very satisfied with their response (42.3%).
1.7.4
Some
complainants made comments on their satisfaction surveys:
·
Ten
complainants gave further information on the reason for their dissatisfaction
with the complaint response;
·
Three
complainants either requested a Stage 2 complaint investigation or were offered
a Stage 2 complaint investigation as a result of the response;
·
Five
complainants commented on the outcome of their complaint; and
· One complainant praised the Benefits Manager who dealt with their complaint, stating:
The Manager was very prompt, professional,
courteous and invaluable to the Organisation. My complaint was rectified
immediately - Thank you very much.
1.8 Safety
1.8.1
Seven
complaints received this quarter were about safety. Of these complaints, one
was about building control, one was about community development, one was about
economic development, two were about parking services, one was about parks and
leisure and one was about revenues. There were no recurring issues or
correlations in these complaints. Of these complaints, three were upheld or
partially upheld:
·
One
complaint against Community Development was about littering and drug
paraphernalia on a piece of land opposite a school, requesting the police
attend to the area to prevent the littering. The response stated that whilst
the land itself is not in the councils ownership, Environmental Services had
removed rubbish from the area due to the nature of the littering.
·
One
complaint was against Parks and Leisure, about some disused garages and a
disused play park. In response we informed the complainant that the garages
were the responsibility of Golding Homes, but that the play park was indeed
owned by the Council and we would send contractors to secure the site.
·
One
complaint against Parking Services was about trailers being parked in resident
parking bays, causing a hazard to motorists. The response informed the
complainant that this was not within our jurisdiction, however as it was
causing a hazard we requested an on-site visit from Kent County Council to
assess the situation.
1.9
Discrimination
1.9.1
One
complaint was primarily about alleged discrimination or unfair
disadvantage for people with protected characteristics. The complaint was
against Revenues and was about the wording of a letter about a council tax
discount sent to a resident with Alzheimers; however the wording had to be
used as it was legally required.
1.9.2
Ten
complaints were from complainants with protected characteristics under
equalities legislation:
Characteristic |
Disability |
Maternity/ Pregnancy |
Age |
Complainants |
8 |
1 |
1 |
1.10
Unreasonable
or unreasonably persistent complainants
1.10.1
There
were no complaints from unreasonable or unreasonably persistent complainants
this quarter.
1.11 Compliments
1.11.1 Many compliments have also been received by the Council this quarter. These can be summarised below:
Service |
Number of Compliments |
Waste Collection |
6 |
Grounds Maintenance |
2 |
Parking Services |
2 |
Housing Options |
1 |
Depot Operations |
5 |
Customer Services |
3 |
Benefits |
1 |
Communications |
16 |
Parks and Leisure |
1 |
The Communications Team received a high
number of compliments this quarter. The majority of their compliments were for
the work they carried out on social media during the floods at Christmas time.
1.12
Methods
of Contact
1.12.1 Complaints were received by the following methods of contact this quarter:
· 47 (39.8%) were made by email
· 11 (9.3%) were made face to face
· 12 (10.2%) were made by post
· 48 (40.7%) were made by telephone
1.13
Payments
1.13.1
There were no
complaints that resulted in payments, refunds or compensation this quarter.
1.14 Alternative Action and why not Recommended
1.14.1 The Council could choose not to monitor complaints handling but this would impact severely on the Councils ability to use complaints as a business improvement tool.
1.15 Impact on Corporate Objectives
1.15.1 Customer service is a core value and one of the Councils priorities is Corporate and Customer Excellence. Management of complaints is critical to the success of this objective.
1.16 Risk Management
1.16.1 Failure to manage complaints in a robust fashion represents a service, financial and reputational risk to the Council. Regular reports are produced for CLT and also presented to the Strategic Leadership and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Monitoring is carried out by the Policy and Information Team.
1.17 Other Implications
1. Financial
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2. Staffing
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3. Legal
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4. Equality Impact Needs Assessment
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5. Environmental/Sustainable Development
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6. Community Safety
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7. Human Rights Act
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8. Procurement
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9. Asset Management
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1.18 Appendices
Appendix A: Complaints Categorisation and Timeliness
Appendix B: Complaints Satisfaction Survey Results
Appendix C: Stage 2 Complaints
IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT?
Yes No
If yes, when did it first appear in the Forward Plan?
..
This is a Key Decision because: ..
.
Wards/Parishes affected: ..
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