Agenda item

The Committee is requested to consider the annual complaints report for 2021/22.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Strategy and Innovation which reported on complaints received from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.

The Policy Manager reported that in the year 2021/22 there were 112 service level complaints (those dealt with by more than one service at the same time are counted as one complaint).  From these 112 complaints, 18 were escalated to the Chief Executive and nine were the subject of Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) enquiries, with 2 being investigated.

Complaints at service level had increased this year, following a significant decrease in the previous year, which is likely to be attributed to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and UK lockdowns.

The Policy Manager gave examples of some of the complaints received, which put the numbers into context and advised that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) made preliminary enquiries about nine complaints relating to TVBC and undertook an investigation into two of these for the year ending 31 March 2022.

The consistency of complaints reporting suggests that the complaints process continues to work effectively, and that the public are able to make a complaint with ease. Where necessary, trends are identified and managed by individual services. The Policy Manager will continue to work closely with Services to identify ways to effectively manage and resolve complaints.

Resolved:

That the Annual Report on Complaints 2021/22 be endorsed.