Contact: Stuart Dorward Ext: 6110 [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

That the information on the monitoring of suggestions, complaints and compliments in the Recreation and Heritage Department in 2003/04 set out in the attached report be approved for submission to the Standards Committee.

2. Reasons

2.1 The County Council operates a corporate policy on the handling of suggestions and complaints that requires annual reports to be made to Policy Review Committees and the Standards Committee.

2.2 The accompanying report reviews the Recreation and Heritage Department's record on the handling of suggestions and complaints in the year ending 31 March 2004. A consolidated report covering all departments of the County Council will be considered by the Standards Committee at a later date.

2.3 Through the action it takes to review and respond to suggestions and complaints, the Recreation and Heritage Department contributes directly to Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Improving Services).

2 Other options considered and rejected - not applicable

3 Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker, or other Executive Member consulted - none

4 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - not applicable

6. Reasons for matter being dealt with, if urgent - not applicable

Approved by: (Signature) Date: (of decision)

................................. .........................

Councillor J. Waddington

Contact: Stuart Dorward Ext: 6110 [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 The County Council operates a corporate policy on the handling of suggestions and complaints. This specifies procedures and standards that all Departments are expected to meet. Monitoring of the policy at a departmental level takes place through periodic reviews by Departmental Management Teams and annual reports to Policy Review Committees. The overall operation of this policy is monitored by the Standards Committee.

1.2 This report reviews the Recreation and Heritage Department's record on the handling of suggestions and complaints in the year ending 31 March 2004. A consolidated report covering all departments of the County Council will be considered by the Standards Committee at a later date.

2. Background

2.1 The corporate policy on suggestions and complaints¹ makes the following commitments on behalf of all County Council services:

· acknowledgements are sent within 5 working days of receiving a communication stating who will be handling the case and how long it will take to send a full reply

· a full response will be given within 20 working days.

2.2 The policy also sets out an escalation procedure if a complainant is not satisfied with the response:

· Stage One: Local manager to deal with the complaint in the first instance

· Stage Two: Head of Department

· Stage Three: Chief Executive.

Beyond this, complainants have the right to raise their concerns with the Local Government Ombudsman

2.3 There is a particular requirement to monitor the incidence of racial or disability related complaints. Complainants are asked to volunteer information about their personal circumstances to assist this.

2.4 Within Recreation and Heritage, suggestions and complaints are usually dealt with on a service basis. Services also keep of record of compliments received. The Departmental Management Team monitors and reviews the operation of the policy for whole Department.

3. Performance in 2003/04

3.1 The table below compares the total recorded complaints and compliments in 2003/04 with those in 2002/03 on a service by service basis:

3.2 703 (94%) of the 750 complaints received were handled by service managers at the local level. 47 (6%) were referred to the Head of Service. Of these, three complaints were further referred to the Chief Executive. 100% of complaints in 2003/04 were fully answered within 20 days compared with 95% in 2002/03. No complaints about Recreation and Heritage services were made to the Local Government Ombudsman in 2003/04. One case from the previous year relating to a complaint about rights of way was determined in 2003/04. The Ombudsman found no maladministration in this case.

3.3 The large increase in both complaints and compliments in the Library and Information Service is a striking feature of the statistics for which there is no single explanation. A major factor may well be that, following the circulation of revised guidance on the recording and handling of complaints and compliments, library staff are more aware of the need to record this information from all sources - letters, phone calls, e-mails, suggestion forms etc. The major changes taking place in libraries are also likely to be giving rise to an increased level of comments about the service provided.

3.4 The Recreation and Heritage services analyse complaints under a number of broad headings. The table below compares the results for 2003/04 and 2002/03:

3.5 One complaint was made during the year that was considered to have a racial basis. This came from a reader at a library who made comments on a Library Suggestions and Comment form about the ethnic categories used in the application form for a replacement library ticket. A letter of reply was sent explaining that all local authorities are encouraged to collect information about ethnic background using the same classifications as the 2001 census. The complainant was also reminded that the completion of this section of the form is not compulsory and that the reason for asking for this information is to help provide a better service for all library users. There was subsequently no further correspondence on this subject between the complainant and the service.

3.6 The three disability related complaints concerned the accessibility of library and museum sites and a right of way. In all cases an appropriate response was given and the complainant did not pursue the issue further. Complaints of this nature clearly help to inform policies and actions on disabled access to Recreation and Heritage facilities.

3.7 There appears to be a significant increase in complaints about staff. This may well relate to the factors that lie behind the increased levels of comments in the Library and Information Service (see paragraph 3.3). It is also apparent that the greater availability of public access internet terminals in libraries is giving rise to complaints about technical problems that often translate into complaints about the willingness or ability of library staff to resolve them immediately. Against this can be set the compliments that record the many instances of outstanding service by staff across all services.

3.8 In considering the number of complaints received it is important to remember the number of people using the Recreation and Heritage services. In 2003/04 the following total visits were recorded in the Library and Information Service and in Museums and Archives²:

3.9 The level and nature of complaints should also be considered in the context of customer satisfaction levels recorded in surveys of Hampshire residents conducted by MORI on the County Council's behalf. This year we have the results of the triennial survey used to provide data for the Best Value performance indicator on user satisfaction (BV 119). The following table sets out the results and compares them with those achieved in 2000/01, the last time these data were collected:

3.10 These show continuing high satisfaction levels with Recreation and Heritage services amongst all residents. The variations between the years are not statistically significant except in the case of the increase for libraries. It might be expected that the satisfaction levels of users of services would be higher than those recorded for all residents, which will include a proportion of non users, but the very high levels of user satisfaction reflect well on the services. Keeping them at these levels in the future represents a considerable challenge to services. The complaints figures suggest that some of our users have very high expectations about the nature and quality of the services we provide and the buildings we operate.

3.11 It is difficult to generalise about the complaints received. In the Library and Information Service, users have raised concerns about book purchasing policy, the level of book stocks and the increase in the number of public access internet terminals. At a local level, Library Managers deal with a host of issues - tidiness, furniture, noise etc. Last year's hot spell in August brought in a lot of comments about the design of buildings, often coupled with concerns about the welfare of staff.

3.12 In the Countryside Service many complaints arise from perceived misuse of facilities by others (e.g. dog fouling), reflecting the difficulties of managing access to sites and rights of way for the enjoyment of different groups. Other complaints relate to delays in clearing fly tips and obstructions to rights of way.

3.13 In the Hampshire Record Office complaints included noise and temperature in the search room, the quality and filing of microfiche, disabled access to toilets and the adequacy of information provided. In many instances the cause of the complaint is not within the control of Record Office staff

3.14 Wherever possible the Department acts on complaints and suggestions to introduce improvements or rectify faults. Examples include:

· The introduction of a paid research service in Hampshire Record Office to counter complaints about the adequacy of information; this has become very successful, regularly receives compliments and generates additional income for the service

· Building and site improvements to aid disabled access to Hampshire Record Office

· Many instances of compliments from users of rights of way about the speed of response in clearing obstructions or repairing path furniture.

3.15 The Departmental objectives agreed for the Recreation and Heritage services place a particular emphasis on customer care and service improvement. We will draw on the experience of staff in the Archives service, who have successfully guided the process of renewing the Charter Mark for Hampshire Record Office, to realise the commitment of achieving Charter Mark or similar accreditation for all services within the next year. The Charter Mark assessment process places a considerable amount of stress on using customer feedback, both positive and negative, to drive service improvement. These activities will therefore contribute directly to Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Improving Services).

Recommendation

That the information on the monitoring of suggestions, complaints and compliments contained in the report be noted and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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