Agenda item

[To receive a report from the Customer Engagement Manager.]

The Chair welcomed the Sarah Campbell, Customer Engagement Manager to the meeting to provide an overview of the Quarter Two Social Care, Public Health and Corporate Complaints report for the following areas:

·       Corporate

·       Children’s

·       Adults and Public Health

·       Ombudsman enquiries

The Council had received 73 stage one corporate complaints; an increase of 38 cases in comparison to 2019/20. These were outlined in Appendix 2. Out of the 73 cases received, 25 were upheld (at fault). The highest figure of 50 complaints received referred to Waste Management and out of 50 received, 22 were upheld which was in comparison to 7 stage one complaints received during quarter two 2019/20. Waste management complaints and service requests had increased during the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions and revised working procedures had impacted on service delivery. The Complaints Team had worked closely with the service to ensure responses were issued in a timely manner and appropriate remedies were put in place to achieve the best outcomes for customers

If a customer remained dissatisfied they were able to escalate to a stage two complaint. In this period the council had received 5 stage two cases and out of the 5 cases received, two cases had been upheld (at fault) and three cases were not upheld (not at fault).

The Council had received 8 stage one children’s services complaints which was a decrease of three cases in comparison to quarter two in 2019/20. Details of these were outlined in Appendix 1and showed a consistency in numbers to quarter one 2020/21. No stage two or three complaints had been received during this period, 7 cases were closed and resolved during this period, no cases were upheld (at fault), 4 cases were partially upheld (partially at fault) and three cases not upheld (not at fault).

The Council had received 6 stage one adult services complaints and one case for public health. This was a decrease of 5 cases in comparison to quarter two in 2019/20 and details were outlined in Appendix 1. The Council had received one public health complaint for this period in relation to a WV Active Membership fee. It was stated that 6 cases were closed and resolved during this period; two cases were upheld; two cases were partially upheld, and two cases were not upheld.

In relation to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and Housing Ombudsman (HO), the Council had received one assessment enquiry from the LGSCO and two assessment enquiries from the HO. The council had received two LGSCO enquiries; one case for Children’s Services and one case for Regeneration. In relation to the Children’s complaint the outcome had not been upheld and no maladministration was found. In relation to the Regeneration complaint, the Council was still awaiting the outcome and the final report. The council had also received three enquiries from the HO for Wolverhampton Homes.

During this period the Ombudsman (LGSCO) had resumed existing casework as they had paused all casework previously which needed input from councils and care providers. The council had also notified customers that they were focusing their attention on addressing the challenges of the pandemic and outlined that complaint deadlines may not be met within the corporate and statutory deadlines.

A total of 87 compliments had also been received.

Resolved:     That the report be noted and agreed.