Issue - meetings

There will be a presentation on this item at the meeting.

David Langman, Customer Feedback and Standards Manager, gave a presentation to the Panel which covered the following:

·  Requested discussion today – Overview of BANES policy and procedures for handling Customer Feedback with focus on complaints

·  Customer Feedback

·  Overview

·  Complaint Process Stages

·  Response Timescales

·  Outcomes and Resolutions

·  Statistics – Stage 1

·  Statistics – Stage 2

·  Statistics – Annual Trend

The officer explained that all information presented is in the public domain.

Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:

Councillor Macfie asked how happy consumers are with the handling of complaints. The officer explained that users are contacted at the end of their journey and asked about this, feedback can be affected by the outcome of the complaint.

Councillor Hodge asked if the complaints officers had other areas of work. The officer explained that this function was added on to their main role and it depends on the size of the service as to how many complaints officers there are. It is a responsive role and there are varying volumes of work.

Councillor Hodge asked what percentage of cases are left open. The officer explained that the vast majority are closed in 15 days.

Councillor Hodge asked how it is decided when moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2. The officer explained that there is a suite of response templates including sign off protocols for what the customer can do if they are not satisfied with the result. We give information at each point on the next stage process.

Councillor Hodge asked if Councillors should direct people to the complaints process. The officer explained that there needs to be a triage process to sort out the difference between a request/reporting of a problem and a complaint.

Councillor Hughes asked how to find out why there has been a substantial increase in complaints in the last 2 years. The officer confirmed that there had been an increase in this time of lockdowns and Covid. This is in line with most other Councils and also the Ombudsman. People have spent more time at home and in their local environment/Council.

Councillor Hughes stated that ‘Fix My Street’ says a complaint is closed when it is not and asked how complaints are closed. The officer explained that letters are clear, if we do not hear back from someone in 30 days, we consider the complaint closed.

Councillor Singleton asked how vexatious complaints are dealt with. The officer explained that this is decided by the Council’s Monitoring Officer. He added that there were a very small number of these cases.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the presentation.