Introduction
This report provides an analysis of corporate and statutory complaints received by us during the year 2024 to 2025. A countywide overview will determine any recurring themes across the council. Additional analysis per service area will aim to pinpoint any specific areas of work.
The report also provides recommendations to the corporate leadership team (CLT) on how services can be improved, including customer relations. CLT should:
- consider these recommendations
- where possible, agree how these can be implemented
Corporate and statutory complaints process
Our corporate and adults complaints process has two formal stages, with statutory children's complaints having three. All complaints received now enter the formal process at stage 1 due to the removal of pre-complaints. This is in line with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) code of practice.
The LGO Code of Practice updated in February 2024 states:
'The early and local resolution of issues between organisations and individuals is key to effective complaint handling. Organisations should not have extra named stages (such as ‘stage 0’ or ‘informal complaint’) as this causes unnecessary confusion.'
Given the above, early resolutions have been removed from the complaints process. Therefore, any expression of dissatisfaction from a customer will now be processed as a formal stage 1 complaint as per the LGO code of practice:
'When an individual expresses dissatisfaction that could meet the criteria for a complaint as set out in section 1 of the Code, they should be given the opportunity to make a complaint. Organisations should recognise that individuals may be reluctant to raise complaints out of fear it may impact services they receive in future.'
Once a response has been provided, those complainants wishing to escalate their complaint to the next stage must advise the complaints manager of the reasons they remain dissatisfied. For corporate and adults complaints, further internal investigation is undertaken. Once complete, and a response sent, the complainant may contact the LGO.
For children's statutory complaints, an escalation to stage 2 requires the commissioning of an independent investigator. Their investigation will be overseen by another independent officer. Once complete, the council will respond based on their findings. Should a complainant question the findings and council’s response, they can request that the investigation be reviewed by an independent panel. This is stage 3 of the statutory process. Once a panel has convened and a response provided, the complainant may contact the LGO.