Contact: Stuart Dorward Ext: 6110 [email protected]

1 Introduction

1.1 The Recreation and Heritage services use a number of methods to seek feedback from customers and users. An important source of information is the complaints, suggestions and compliments that service users make when they visit libraries, museums, country parks etc. This report provides an overview of the main issues arising from the routine monitoring of customer feedback during the year ending 31 March 2005.

1.2 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. There is a formal requirement to report annually to the Policy Review Committee on the Department's record in handling of suggestions and complaints and this report also serves that purpose. 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 the whole Department.

3 Performance in 2004/05

3.1 The table below compares the total recorded complaints and compliments in 2004/05 with those in 2003/04 on a service by service basis:

3.2 835 (88%) of the 944 complaints received were handled by service managers at the local level. 109 (12%) were referred to the Head of Service. Two of these were further referred to the Chief Executive. 100% of complaints in 2004/05 were fully answered within 20 days, as was the case in 2003/04. No complaints about Recreation and Heritage services were made to the Local Government Ombudsman in 2004/05.

3.3 The increase in both complaints and compliments in most services is the most 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, suggestions and compliments as part of the preparation for Charter Mark assessment, staff are more aware of the need to record this information from all sources - letters, phone calls, e-mails, suggestion forms, comment books etc. For example, the figures recorded for Museums and Archives now include a thorough analysis of all comments recorded in the visitor book at Milestones and this accounts for much of the increase in complaints and compliments. The major changes taking place in many libraries are also likely to be giving rise to an increased level of comments recorded by the Library and Information Service.

3.4 The Recreation and Heritage services analyse complaints under a number of broad headings. The table below compares the results for 2004/05 and 2003/04:

3.5 Three disability related complaints were received in the year. At one library the operation of heavy doors gave rise to a complaint following the installation of a disabled access ramp. At another, a user complained about the lack of hearing loops. Both issues have been addressed through the programme of Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) improvements being undertaken at Recreation and Heritage sites across the county. Hampshire Record Office received a complaint from a wheelchair user about the height of tables in the search room. This has led to the incorporation of a height adjustable table in the specification for the local studies facility being developed as part of the Winchester Cultural Centre project. Complaints of this nature clearly help to inform policies and actions on disabled access to Recreation and Heritage facilities.

3.6 Last year there appeared to be a significant increase in complaints about staff. It is very gratifying to note the big fall in such complaints. To this can be added the many instances of compliments on the outstanding service offered by staff across all services. The fall may also relate to more accurate classification of certain types of complaint which, at first sight, may appear to be about staff, but in fact are really concerned with the nature, range and quality of services. For example, it is apparent that the greater availability of public access internet terminals in libraries is giving rise to more complaints about technical problems. These often manifest themselves in the first instance as complaints about the willingness or ability of library staff to resolve them immediately.

3.7 The large increase in the level of complaints about buildings can be attributed mainly to the Library and Information Service and is unsurprising in a year when there was extensive building work going on in many libraries with, in some cases, services operating from temporary premises for a considerable time.

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 2004/05 the following total visits were recorded in the Library and Information Service and in Museums and Archives:

3.9 The level and nature of complaints should also be considered in the context of overall customer satisfaction. This year we have available the results from the third MORI survey of residents' opinions, based on fieldwork carried out in January 2005. The following table sets out the results and compares them with those achieved in the same survey in 2002/03, the last time these data were collected:

3.10 The results of this survey are analysed in more detail in a separate agenda item, but they generally show high and growing levels of satisfaction with services provided or supported by Recreation and Heritage. Keeping them at these levels in the future represents a considerable challenge to services. However, 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 nature and availability of book and other lending materials and the use and perceived abuse of public access internet terminals. At a local level, Library Managers deal with a host of issues - tidiness, furniture, noise etc.

3.12 In the Countryside Service many complaints arise from perceived misuse of facilities by others (e.g. dog fouling, use of "off road" vehicles), 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 the quality of microfiche, height of tables in the search room (see paragraph 3.5), the level of copying charges and the policy of not allowing personal photography in the search room.

3.14 Appropriate responses were made to all complaints, but in many instances the cause was not within the control of staff. Wherever possible the Department acts on complaints and suggestions to introduce improvements or rectify faults. Examples include:

· Planned improvements to the dining room at the Hampshire Mountain Centre (Argoed Llwyd)

· Building and site improvements to aid disabled access at several museum sites

· A range of improvements at individual libraries, such as adjusting the height of book shelves to make them easier to use, better seating at workstations and improvements to internal signage

· Improvements to joining instructions at Calshot Activities Centre.

3.15 The Departmental objectives agreed for the Recreation and Heritage services place a particular emphasis on customer care and service improvement. The Department has a commitment to achieve Charter Mark or similar accreditation for all of its services. Charter Mark assessments will take place this autumn and it is hoped that, by December, most services will have achieved Charter Mark status. The assessment process places considerable emphasis on using customer feedback, both positive and negative, to drive service improvement. Continuous monitoring of customer feedback and the Charter Mark programme will therefore contribute directly to Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Improving Services).

Recommendation

That the information on the monitoring of customer feedback in the year ending 31 March 2005 contained in the report be noted and submitted for consideration by the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage and the Standards Committee.

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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