Agenda item

Making Experiences Count - Annual Update Report

Minutes:

The Customer Services Manager presented the Making Experiences Count Annual Update Report for the consideration of the Board. During the delivery of this presentation the following points were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

· There had been 32 compliments and 48 complaints about Council services received during quarter 4 of 2015/16.

· There had been a decline in the number of complaints received about Council services during the fourth quarter compared to quarter 3 of 2015/16.

· There had also been 24 MP enquiries during quarter 4 of 2015/16.

· There had been one complaint referred to the Local Government Ombudsman during this period. This related to a planning enforcement issue which had been impacting on a resident’s property.

· There had been a decline in the number of face-to-face enquiries in quarter 4 compared to previous quarters. This decline had been anticipated and followed standard patterns during the year.

· As agreed by the Board the previous year Officers were proposing to continue to present an update to the Board about the customer feedback that had been received during the year on an annual basis.

· The data for quarters 1, 2 and 3 would be reported more regularly to Councillors alongside the Members’ bulletins.

Following presentation of the report the following points were discussed in further detail:

· The decline in the numbers of customers contacting the Council directly for support, either by phone or in person. The Board was advised that this was partly as a result of new working arrangements which tended to address problems at an early stage.

· The complexity of the cases that continued to be reported directly to the Council by customers.

· The availability of different payment methods that could be used by customers to pay bills and plans to introduce contactless payment methods at Council buildings in due course.

· The role of the Financial Inclusion Team (FIT) and their close working relationships with relevant external agencies such as the Bromsgrove and Redditch branch of the CAB.

· The inclusion of a category entitled “other” amongst the list of demands received by the Council from customers and the areas covered by this category. Members were advised that this covered a range of areas, including general enquiries from the public to clarify information about different subjects unrelated to local government.

· The focus of the report and complaints procedure on monitoring complaints that had been received about Council services.

· The types of issues addressed through MP enquiries and the fact that these often involved obtaining clarification about Council procedures rather than making complaints.

· The changes that had recently been made to the Council’s complaints and compliments systems which would mean that in future MP enquiries would not be included within the data for complaints.

· The inclusion of complaints about Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) within the data.

· The potential for calls made to direct dial lines to be recorded amongst the data. Concerns were raised that by not recording these calls areas of significant concern to the public might not be identified.

· The need for services to report issues reported via direct dial lines to the Customer Service team and the potential IT software challenges that might be encountered.

· The Council’s policy regarding complaints and the ways in which compliance with this policy was monitored.

· The need for deadlines to be met when responding to complaints. Officers confirmed that where deadlines were not met this would be recorded in the annual report to Members.

At the end of these discussions the Board

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Supporting documents: