[PPT] - CORPORATE COMPLAINTS CUSTOMER SERVICES CLLR JENNY BOKOR Lead PowerPoint Presentation

SLIDE 1

CORPORATE COMPLAINTS

CUSTOMER SERVICES

CLLR JENNY BOKOR Lead Member DAVE PLATTS Head of Service

COMPLAINTS SCRUTINY PANEL

26th June 2013

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How do complaints fit into our strategic aims

CORPORATE PLAN CORE VALUE

CUSTOMER FIRST

We put the customer at the heart of everything we do

CUSTOMER SERVICES STRATEGY

Customer Insight

In-depth understanding of our customers

Culture

Lead a customer-focused approach

Access

Choice of how and when to access services

Quality

Get it right first time

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How do complaints fit into our Customer Services Programme

CUSTOMER SERVICES PROGRAMME

Phase 1 ACCESS AND CULTURE Define the standards by which we manage customer interactions Review of:

Corporate Complaints Procedure Customer Service Standards Customer Care Standards

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What are the aims of the corporate complaints procedure

Consistent

Fair, consistent and structured process Put things right when they go wrong

Positive

Learn lessons from the outcome of complaints and remedial actions as a positive method of monitoring performance and improving our services Enhance the reputation of the council

Quality

Improve the quality of our services Improve our relations with service users Encourage best practice by our staff Operate within the statutory, regulatory and legal framework

Accessible

Use a variety of access channels Open to anyone who lives, works or visits the borough

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What does the complaints procedure look like I N F O R M A L S T A G E 1

S T A G E

2

S T A G E 3

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN OR HOUSING OMBUDSMAN SERVICE

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How do we administer the complaints procedure

Administrative service Any officer Receives complaint: letter, email, eform, telephone Logs complaint on Lagan Allocates to Investigating Officer Sends acknowledgement to customer Deals with complaint Sends response to customer Copies response to Administrative service Implements: Remedies and Lessons Learnt Logs Outcome, Remedy, Lessons Learnt on Lagan Prepares Management Reports Reviews Lessons Learnt Overview

Investigating Officer

S1: Team leader S2: Head of Service S3: CSDO

Administrative service

Services (team meeting)/ partners/contractors SMT/CMT

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How do we publicise the complaints procedure

Have Your Say

– Telephone, Web form, Email, F2F, Letter

Guidance for staff

– Corporate Complaints Procedure Guidance Notes – Induction training

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What is a complaint IS

We made a mistake in the way we provided a service We failed to provide a service We delayed in providing a service We failed to act in a proper manner We provided an unfair service

IS NOT

Initial request for service e.g. the first time a service is asked for Initial request for information or an explanation of a council policy or practice The correct application of the law or a council policy or procedure Where there is a right of Appeal within the council or to an independent tribunal

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Statistics - Volumes

Year Number of complaints Percentage increase/reduction

n previous year

2005/06 312

2006/07

394 +32% 2007/08 420 +7% 2008/09 614 +46% 2009/10 548

11%

2010/11 479

12%

2011/12 600 +25%

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Statistics – %age of complaints dealt with at each stage

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 2005/6 2006/7 2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 YEAR

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

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Statistics – %age of complaints either upheld or partly upheld

%AGE OF UPHELD OR PARTLY UNHELD COMPLAINTS 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2006/7 2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 YEAR PERCENTAGE

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Statistics – complaint reasons 2011/12

Complaint reasons Total number %age of total corporate complaints Total number upheld

r partly upheld

%age of upheld or partly Service failure

249 41% 158 43%

Service delay

84 14% 71 19%

Procedure not in place/requires review 17

3% 10 3%

Procedure not followed

23 4% 12 3%

Disagrees with policy 25

4% 9 2%

Incorrect/insufficient information

78 13% 41 11%

Administrative error 23

4% 8 2%

Staff attitude/behaviour

82 14% 50 13%

Miscellaneous

19 3% 11 3%

Total

600 100% 370 100%

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Statistics – response rates 2011/12

Target response times %age of in-time responses %age of out-of- time responses Stage 1 – 15 working days Stages 2 & 3 – 20 working days 84% 16%

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Statistics – Local Government Ombudsman

Year

Number of complaints received Two-year average 2004/05 51

2005/06

33 42 2006/07 20 27 2007/08 15 18 2008/09 25 20 2009/10 11 18 2010/11 26 19 2011/12 17 22

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Changes to Ombudsman services

From April 2013 complaints relating to all

social housing tenants dealt with by Housing Ombudsman Service (no longer LGO)

Complaint can only be made to HOS by

designated person or by complainant if waits 8 weeks

Designated persons are: MP, district

councillor or tenant panel

Guidance issued to councillors in May

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Satisfaction with complaint handling – council complainants (2011/12)

50 39 44 61 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 How well were you treat ed Was your complaint sorted out? P ERCENTAGE

% very satisfied/satisfied % dissatisfied/very dissatisfied

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Issues with complaint handling - council complainants (2011/12)

3 3 3 1 5 2 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 2 3 4 5 Wha t wa s t he WORS T t hi ng a bout how we ha ndl e d y our c ompl a i nt Wha t wa s t he BES T t hi ng a bout how we ha ndl e d y our c ompl a i nt NUM BER

Helpfulness of staff Accuracy of reply Use of language Speed of response Apology Outcome

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Satisfaction with complaint handling - CNH complainants (2011/12)

45.9% 44.7% 52.3% 16.3% 55.8% 25.6% 67.4% 11.6% 58.6% 26.4% 61.2% 18.8% 58.8% 12.9% 60.5% 10.5% 61.4% 14.8% How easy was it to make your complaint? How would you rate the staff that dealt with your complaint in terms of: a. Helpfulness

b. Knowledge
c. Keeping you informed

How satisfied are you with the time taken to respond to your complaint? In our written communication with you: a. How easy was it to understand our response

b. Did we address all the points raised

How satisfied are you with : a. The way we handled your complaint

b. The oucome of your complaint

% satisfied/ very satisfied % dissatisfied/very dissatisfied

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Feedback – from other sources

Internal Audit – Dec 2009

– substantial assurance – appropriate actions are being taken to manage risks

LGO – May 2013

– the council gave timely and detailed responses to

Ms X’s complaint and further letters and emails, including responses to new issues raised during the complaint process

– it is not fault for a council to make a decision or take

a position with which the complainant disagrees

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Possible areas for further consideration

Does the procedure deliver what the council wants

– Learning lessons

within individual services dissemination to other services

Does the procedure deliver what the customer wants

– Customer satisfaction

is the process too long should we have a centralised process to ensure

– consistency, accuracy and quality of response – we get our message across

Why are we not building quality into our processes

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Is this really acceptable?

Is it acceptable that an increase in workload

automatically leads to and increase in complaints

Would you accept benefit payments being wrong

because more claims ?

Would you accept less accurate election results if %

f turnout is higher ?

So is it ok for more kitchens and bathroom

installations to lead to more problems ?

Shouldn’t we always try to get it right ?

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What are our customers complaining about – services with 15 or more complaints

2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Service Type No Corporate %age of total complaints No Corporate %age of total complaints No Corporate %age of total complaints No Corporate %age of total complaints

Revenues 54 10% 26 5% 71 12% 41 6% Benefits 14 2% 7 1% 25 4% 26 4% Public Conveniences

18

3%

Leisure Centres
17

2.5% Waste Operations 129 23% 73 15% 61 10% 24 3.5% Green spaces Operations 31 6% 31 6% 18 3% 17 2.5% Planning & Regeneration Development 42 8% 29 6% 32 5% 46 7% Strategic Housing 17 3% 17 3% 24 4%

Repair/

Maintenance 93 17% 120 25% 209 35% 340 50% Tenancy Services 58 33% 76 16% 67 11% 69 10% Housing Cleansing & Open Spaces Leisure & Culture Revenues, Benefits & Customer Services

SLIDE 23

Example complaint

Mrs X complained to contractor about fitting of her new kitchen:

–

ruined contents of her fridge/freezer

–

broken glass in entry door

–

soiled toilet after use by operative

–

perative going into her bedroom

Contractor took following action:

–

recompensed her for contents of fridge/freezer - £60.00

–

boarded glass in door

Mrs X complained to CBC that:

–

contractor had not replaced glass in door

–

had not given explanation about why toilet was left in a state or why someone had gone into her bedroom

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Example complaint (contd)

CBC stage 1 response (6 weeks after complaint made)

–

“contractor has apologised for the issues that you had and has agreed to pay you £60.00 compensation”

CBC stage 2 response (8½ weeks after complaint made)
“I note contractor has offered you £60.00 in compensation, which I feel is fair under the
circumstances. Therefore, I don’t intend to take any further action.”
CBC stage 3 response (11 weeks after complaint made)

–

Visit Mrs X with contract manager

–

Flowers as an apology

–

Tried to explain why operatives had left soiled toilet and been in her bedroom

–

Agreed to re-glaze door and carry out minor work to wiring

Repairs service then raised following issues:

–

can only re-glaze door with a crime number

–

could not offer a fixed appointment (Mrs X works)

Repairs service then agreed to: (12 weeks after complaint made)

–

Re-glaze door and re-charge contractor

–

Offer a fixed appointment

Current position (13 weeks after complaint made)

–

Waiting glass to re-glaze door

–

Fixed appointment made

WHAT IS WRONG WITH HOW WE HANDLED THIS COMPLAINT

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