Agenda item

To consider the attached report.

Contact Officer:  roger.goodes@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

The Committee received a report which summarised local government complaint decisions and outcomes for the year 2020-21. The report was initially presented to the Committee in July 2021 however, this was the updated version to include the report from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO) Annual Review Letter. The data in the report related to Buckinghamshire Council and the five legacy authorities.

The Complaints and Improvement Manager and the Head of Information Manger reported the Ombudsman made determinations on 104 cases, this was a reduction from 147 cases reported the previous year. There were 17 cases upheld by the Ombudsman however, it was advised these might have been cases from the legacy authorities and not Buckinghamshire Council. The report also included a table showing Ombudsman upheld complaints for other unitary authorities in order to offer a comparison with Buckinghamshire Council. Point 3 of the report highlighted the improvements and actions required by the Council in response to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman complaints. It was reported the Customer First Strategy which sought to champion the customer and allow a greater ownership of complaints by departments should improve processes. The Information Management Team were in the process of procuring a new case management system which would record cases across all processes, complaints and information requests. This would allow cases to be dealt with in line with the Ombudsman timeframe and enable a better management of workflow and escalation of problems where necessary.

During discussion the following points were raised:-

• A Member queried the reporting on complaints for both the unitary Council and legacy authorities given that the unitary authority had been in effect for longer than 18 months. In response, it was noted there was a time delay from the Ombudsman dealing and responding to the complaint which was the reason for the data being presented this way. It was reiterated that the new case management system would allow a more customer focused approach to dealing with complaints and solutions and lessons would be automated leading to embedded learning. This would enable better reporting on complaints to Management Team and future progress on service improvements. It was clarified there were 17 cases upheld by the Ombudsman and an internal process was underway to look at all areas relating to complaints.

·       A Member noted 104 complaints although fairly high, was still a reduction from the previous year reported. It was advised lessons learnt from the complaints should be applied to other departments in the Council and this Committee could report the progress of complaints to Cabinet Members.

• The Head of Information Manager confirmed 17 of the cases could have potentially been upheld internally by the Council. It was confirmed most Stage 1 complaints should address the complainant’s issues and provide improvement opportunities for the departments. The complaints stage cost considerable time and money to the Council and it was proposed a heat mapping system would inform services where particular issues need to be proactively addressed.
• A Member queried if the 17 cases upheld could be shown in future reports and if the Committee could be informed which cases they relate to. It was advised this would not be possible due to the time delay in reporting from the Ombudsman and the lack of case by case information provided by them. Another Member queried if the report only covered a 6-week period when the unitary authority was not in existence formally and if this period covered the 5 legacy authorities’ figures. It was also suggested the upheld cases should be reported to Cabinet Members and the Ombudsman’s remedial work for the cases should be reported also. The Head of Information Manager confirmed the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Review Letter did not include the details of the upheld cases and therefore the remedies for these complaints were not reported. However, it was confirmed the Council used its own internal case management system to keep track of complaint outcomes and remedial action.
• A Member queried a recommendation by the Ombudsman to offer cash payments to complainants at earlier stages of their complaint and if this would be appropriate. The Head of Information Manager advised cash payments would not have been offered at the earlier stages of complaints however, it was a useful option to have available to service areas as an infrequent option to bring a conclusion to a complaint where relevant.
• Another Member requested the data for the complaints upheld by the Ombudsman and advised the service areas should have a system to log incoming complaints and case review without necessarily requiring a case management software solution. They highlighted a corrective action project would be required before any case management system was implemented and requested the data for the number of outcomes since March 2021. In response the Complaints and Improvement Manager confirmed they did not have this data to hand and a case management software solution was necessary to pick up learning outcomes from complaints.
• A Member advised the number of complaints sent to the Ombudsman was not a huge cause for concern however, the home to school transport complaint which was raised with the Ombudsman could have been reported to Cabinet Members sooner. The Service Director for Legal and Democratic Services confirmed the Ombudsman could ensure the Council publish the outcome publically.

RESOLVED that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Report be noted.