Agenda Item No.6

Report to: Governance Committee

Date: 14 July 2009

By: Director of Law and Personnel

Title of Report: Local Government Ombudsman’s Annual Letter and summary of complaints and Freedom of Information requests received by the Council in 2008-09

Purpose of Report: To submit to the Committee the Local Government Ombudsman’s Annual Letter and information about the level of complaints and Freedom of Information requests received in 2008-09

RECOMMENDATION - the Governance Committee is recommended to note the report. 1. Financial Appraisal 1.1 There are no financial implications arising directly from this report although there may be cost implications arising from action taken to address issues raised in complaints. 2. Complaints received by the County Council 2.1 The Council’s complaints procedure aims to provide a uniform system in all Departments for dealing with complaints. Its primary aim is to give the public an effective means of making complaints and having them resolved. It is also an important means of monitoring and improving the quality of services. 3. Current Position 3.1 The table below shows the number of complaints received in 2008-09 (the previous years figures are shown in brackets. Department Stage 1

complaints Stage 2

complaints Stage 3

complaints Chief Executives (including Libraries) 193 (138) 0 (3) (2) Corporate Resources 5 (4) Children’s Services (Social Care) 238 (245) 4 (4) Adult Social Care 371 (346) 7 (8) 1 (2) Transport and Environment 131 (238) (2) (1) Total 938 (971) 11 (17) 1 (5)

More detailed information by Directorate is provided in Appendix 1. 3.2 The Director of Adult Social Care and Director of Children’s Services are required by statute to make an annual report to the Cabinet on complaints and the report will be presented to Cabinet later in the year. The later reports may show some slight statistical variations due to the timing of this report and the management of completed cases. 3.3 As expected, the statistics show that the number of complaints is higher in those departments which are providing services directly to members of the public. 3.4 During 2008-09 we have strengthened our current arrangements to provide more consistency in the recording of complaints across departments, particularly in those departments that do not have a statutory duty to report complaints. Each departmental management team now receives a detailed report on complaints and compliments every quarter. 3.5 The number of complaints received has stayed at a similar level overall. As in previous years, the majority of complaints are dealt with effectively at the first stage as shown by the relatively small number of complaints taken to stage 2 and 3.

4. Compliments 4.1 In the last year we have started monitoring the number of compliments received. This is done on a relatively informal basis and records written compliments received. This information is now included in the departmental information included at Appendix 1. Councillors should note that this is indicative information and does not include all compliments received. 5. Freedom of Information 5.1 There was a significant increase in the total number of requests (462) compared to the previous year (304). There is still no marked trend, however, in the type of requests, and very few specific topics for which we have received more than one request. Details of the breakdown of requests are attached at Appendix 2.

6. Local Government Ombudsman’s Annual Letter 6.1 The Local Government Ombudsman submits an Annual Letter summarising investigations undertaken by his office over the previous financial year, to each local authority. His letter for 2008/09 is attached at Appendix 3. The aim of the letter is to help us learn from the outcome of complaints, underpin effective working relationships between councils and the Ombudsman’s Office and provide complaint based information which is essential when assessing and reviewing performance. 6.2 The number of enquiries and complaints received by the Ombudsman in 2008/09 was 53. The way in which the Ombudsman now operates means that this number can no longer be directly compared to complaints received in previous years. Some of the enquiries are not then pursued and of the 53 enquiries, 35 were forwarded to the Local Government Ombudsman Investigation Team. The following table shows the number of complaints received in previous years.

Year Number received

2007/08 33 2006/07 67 2005/06 60 2004/05 39 2003/04 33

6.3 In particular the Committee is asked to note that the response times taken by the Council was 24 days, which was quicker than the average response time of 30 days last year. 6.4 No findings of maladministration were recorded by the Ombudsman 7. Accessibility of complaints information 7.1 A new complaints leaflet was published in November 2008. There is a freepost comments form attached to make it easier for people to write and share their views with us. We have only received a few complaints on the back of these new leaflets. This information is not easily accessible, however, and discussions are taking place about how we can make improvements in the future. 7.2 New complaints pages will be launched on the internet this summer. The new pages will include suggestions and comments sections, and the graphics are being designed to make the page more interactive. 8. Conclusion 8.1 The Committee is asked to note the report. ANDREW OGDEN Director of Law and Personnel Contact Officer: Mary Clarke (tel: 01273 481587) mary.clarke@eastsussex.gov.uk Local Member: All

Appendix 1

Chief Executives Department Summary of all complaints received on or before the 31 March 2009 compared to those received in 2007-08 Total received in 2008-09 Total received in 2007-08 Stage 1 193 138 Stage 2 - 3 Stage 3 - 2 Compliments 131 Not collected at that time Breakdown of complaints Stage 1

Complaints Team Sub-team Total Communications 3

Partnerships 0 Community Safety 3

Community Partnerships

Traveller Team 21 Economic Development 0

Libraries 119 Libraries & Culture Student Support 3 Policy &Performance 0 Finance 0 Archives 3 Democratic Services 1 Registration service 7 Emergency Planning 0 Legal Services 0 Personnel 18 Trading Standards 15 Total 193 Compliments Team Sub-team Total Communications 4

Partnerships 0 Community Safety 5

Community Partnerships

Traveller Team 4 Economic Development 2

Libraries and Culture 24 Policy and Performance 1 Finance 0 Archives 2 Democratic Services 8 Emergency Planning 1 Legal Services 1 Personnel 131 Trading Standards 12 Total 195

Supporting information As expected, the majority of complaints received by the Chief Executive’s Department arise from Libraries as the largest customer facing service area. Within the Libraries area the following activities/initiatives have taken place: • We have submitted a capital bid for a new joint library and day care centre in Seaford,

which will address the issue of excessive heat in the basement of Seaford Library. In the meantime, we are investigating better ventilation of the basement area.

• Difficulty is reported with parking at Polegate Library. This seems to occur when the local

school holds special events and parents/carers park for a long time in the library car park. The local Area Manager will be contacting the headteacher to discuss how this can be resolved and there are notices displayed around the car park stating that it is a car park for the use of library customers only.

• The Library Service is explaining to customers that libraries are now seen as community

spaces for all, delivering a service to all ages and sections of the community. Libraries are no longer silent zones and we are trialling ways of advertising times when libraries will be quiet to provide this facility for people who would like it.

• The Library Service are currently in the 2nd year of a 3 year plan of customer focus

training for all front-line staff - this focuses on service delivery and offering an individual service to customers.

As a result of the complaints received across all other service areas within the department, action has been taken to minimise the risk of the complaint recurring. Some of the actions/initiatives taken include the following; • Updated guidance about advising employees and managers of salary overpayments has

been provided to staff in the Personnel Support Unit. • New improved processes for collating email and paper job applications have been

established by the Personnel Support Unit (PSU). • Information relating to backdated pay awards will be added to the leaver letters that staff

receive following their resignation from the County Council. • Archives have reviewed their access guidelines as it relates to data protection and held a

refresher training session for staff. • Following a complaint about the essential criteria in a job description, additional training

was provided to PAT staff in relation to wording in adverts, to ensure information received from recruiting managers does not contravene disability or equality legislation.

• Staff have been asked to use their out of office assistant efficiently and put details of

another team member to contact.

Corporate Resources Directorate Summary of all complaints received on or before the 31 March 2009 compared to those received in 2007-08 Total received in 2008-09 Total received in 2007-08 Stage 1 5 4 Stage 2 - - Stage 3 - - Compliments 91 52 Breakdown of complaints by stage Stage 1 Service category Number Finance 4 Property 1 Compliments Service category Number Finance 23 property 18 Audit and Performance 17 ICT 33 Supporting written information Three of the Finance complaints were from people who were unsuccessful in claims against the Council for alleged accidents/damage. Discussions have taken place with the Insurance Management Team to provide summary information on our website explaining what we are liable for.

Children’s Services Department This report includes complaints made about all local authority provided Children’s Services with the exception of schools ie social care, special educational needs, education welfare etc. Complaints about schools are managed by each individual school and not recorded centrally. Summary of all complaints received 1 April 2008 - 31 March 2009 compared to those received 1 April 2007- 31 March 2008 2008-09 2007-08 Stage 1 238 245 Stage 2 4 4 Stage 3 0 0 Compliments 362 142 2. Breakdown of complaints by Team Stage 1 Team Number Number upheld Admissions 12 1 Adoption and Permanence 4 0 Children with Sensory Needs 1 0 Children with Disabilities 26 6 Child Protection Advisers 2 1 Complaints 1 0 Duty and Assessment 22 2 Early Years 5 2 Education Welfare 12 5 Family Resource Centres 12 4 Family Support Teams 36 4 Fostering 2 1 14-19 1 0 Looked after Children 41 11 Planning and Performance 1 1 Policy 2 0 Special Education Needs 18 1 Transport 6 1 Youth Development Service 3 1 Youth Support Team 30 8 Youth Offending Team 1 0 Total 238 49 Stage 2 Team Number Children with Disabilities 3 Youth Offending Team 1 Total 4

Compliments Team Number Adoption and Permanance 46 Children’s Centres 40 Children with Disabilities 4 Early Years 74 East Sussex Music School 1 Education Welfare 4 Family Support Team 20 Fostering 32 14-19 1 Inclusion Support 1 KITES 1 Looked after Children 20 Parentlink 34 Play Development Service 1 Safeguarding 2 Special Educational Needs 22 Substance Misuse 3 Youth Development Service 2 Youth Offending Team 52 Youth Support Team 2 Total 362 The general themes arising from the complaints received include poor communication, poor quality of service, dissatisfaction with choice of placement and lack of support. Greater emphasis has been placed on learning from complaints at stage 1 of the procedure. Action plans are developed following stage 2 investigations. Staff training Two staff training sessions have been provided through the Children’s Services Training Prospectus for any staff within Children’s Services to attend. Training has also been provided to ten teams across Children’s Services and one to one sessions have been provided to newly appointed practice managers and operations managers. The focus of training is on listening to those accessing our services and addressing their comments and complaints fairly and objectively. Staff have been sign posted to look at the Customer Care Standards and to develop an awareness of how poor customer care can lead to complaints. The Department has carried out an extensive piece of work to determine the lessons learned from the complaints received and have developed an action plan to make sure that the issues raised in complaints are minimised. Staff training Two staff training sessions have been provided through the Children’s Services Training Prospectus for any staff to attend. Training has also been provided to ten teams across Children’s Services and one to one sessions have been held with new appointed practice managers and operations managers. Staff have been sign posted to look at the Customer Care Standards and to develop an awareness of how poor customer care can lead to complaints.

Department: Adult Social Care Summary of all complaints received on or before the 31 March 2009 compared to those received in 2007-08 Total received in 2008-09 Total received in 2007-08 Stage 1 371 346 Stage 2 7 8 Stage 3 1 2 Compliments 2240 1397 Breakdown of complaints by stage Stage 1 Service Category Number Upheld Partly

Upheld Assessment & Care Management 85 28 19 Blue Car Badges 24 6 6 Day Care – In House 6 4 2 Emergency Duty Service 1 1 0 Home Care – In House 16 6 7 Hospital Assessment & Care Management Teams

34 4 7

Learning Disability Directly Provided Services

11 0 7

Learning Disability Assessment & Care Management

13 0 6

Learning Disability Community Support Services

2 0 2

Mental Health Day Care 7 2 4 Mental Health <65 11 3 4 Mental Health > 65 16 9 3 Occupational Therapy 25 4 10 Residential – In House 10 0 2 Sensory Impairment 7 1 2 Social Care Direct 4 1 1 Supporting People 1 0 0 Supported Accommodation Team 2 1 0 Finance & Business Information – Income 46 12 11 Finance & Business Information – Payments

13 9 2

Contracts & Purchasing – Independent Home Care

28 15 9

Contracts & Purchasing – Independent Residential Care

4 1 2

Contracts & Placements 4 2 0 Strategy & Commissioning 1 1 0 Total 371 110 106 Stage 2 Service Category Number Mental Health >65 2 Learning Disability Assessment & Care Management 2 Assessment & Care Management 2 Finance & Business Information 1 Total 7

Stage 3 Service Category Number Hospital Assessment & Care Management Team 1 Total 1 Compliments Service Category Number Assessment & Care management Teams 149 Hospital Assessment & Care Management Teams 14 Occupational Therapy 848 Blue Car Badges 11 Older Peoples (DPS) 663 Home Care (DPS) 209 Sensory Impairment 45 Learning Disability – Assessment Services 23 Learning Disability - DPS 138 Mental Health <65 12 Mental Health >65 1 Substance Misuse Service 1 Social Care Direct 14 Finance & Business Information 13 Duty & Assessment 2 STACS 12 County Wide Reviewing Team 85 Total 2240 Supporting information We have recorded a total of 371 complaints, 7% more than last year. 98% of complaints were resolved at stage 1. People who use the complaints procedure are routinely asked about their experience of making a complaint. Returns indicate that most people feel well informed about the process and have found staff very helpful and responsive in dealing with their concerns. Whilst there were no dominant themes of complaints this year, there was a significant increase in complaints about the Blue Car Badge service. These were mostly about national changes that restricted eligibility further and some process issues. Shortfalls in communication between staff, service users, their carers and our health partners was a key element in many complaints and is an area that we are constantly striving to improve. We have made a range of significant changes, at all levels of the organisation, in response to complaints. Examples of improvements to services include: The East Sussex Supporting People Strategic Forum agreed a new appeals procedure that provides all supporting people service providers, service users and individual leaseholder’s an opportunity to have decisions reconsidered and reviewed. We received a number of complaints from service users or their carers about receiving final demand letters for outstanding charges, within what they considered a short period. In recognition of the impact of disability on many of our service users the debt collection procedure was reviewed and final demands now go out at day 52 instead of day 40.

Following reports that some Blue Badge re-applications had gone missing Blue Car Badges processes were reviewed and now:

a) staff offer to report missing items to the Royal Mail on behalf of a customer rather than asking the customer to do it.

b) More checks are made on addressed envelopes prior to despatch to prevent addressing errors.

c) Envelopes provided for the return of an expired badge are no longer be addressed to ‘Blue Car Badges’

d) Improved recording of all incoming correspondence Our Leaflet 'You and your information' will be re-worded when it is next re-printed to reflect the fact that there may be occasions when information cannot be disclosed. The current wording does not make it clear that there are occasions when information cannot be released. We have also seen a big increase in the number of compliments recorded. This year’s total of 2240 is a 60% increase on last year. This is of course demonstrates how much our services are valued and provides a wealth of information about the quality of support that we offer. Each year we provide training to staff and managers to help them deal with complaints positively and fairly, with a strong emphasis on customer care. This year we have offered additional training to managers to ensure the successful implementation of the new single complaints process for the NHS and Adult Social Care that was introduced from 1 April 2009.

Department: Transport and Environment Summary of all complaints received on or before the 31 March 2009 compared to those received in 2007-08 Total received in 2008-09 Total received in 2007-08 Stage 1 131 238 Stage 2 1 0 Stage 3 0 0 Stage 4 2 1 Compliments 108 138 Breakdown of complaints by stage April 2008- end Mar 2009 Stage 1 Division Service Category Number Resources Customer & Commercial Development 2

Environmental Operations 12 Highways Operations 63

Delivery

Transport Operations 31 Planning 7 Policy Transport Strategy & Road safety 16

Stage 2 Division Service category Number Delivery Environmental Operations 1 Compliments Division Service Category Number

Resources Customer & Commercial Development 1 Environmental Operations 4 Delivery Highways Operations 90

Policy Transport Strategy & Road safety 10 Supporting information During 2008 - 2009 131 stage 1 complaints were received. Out of these, only 8 were classified as “justified complaints”. Justified complaints is where the Complaints team believe that the level of service received by the customer is below standard. This is for example, where we have failed to deliver a service as agreed with the customer, or the standard of service provided does not meet service level agreements. Justified complaints also relate to situations where our performance does not meet the Customer Care Standards for behaviour and timeliness of response. The complaint types recorded during 2008 -2009 capture customer complaints about ESCC T&E staff behaviour and that of our contractors and associated partners. In total 13 complaints (9.8% of the total volume of stage 1 complaints) related to staff behaviour. The highest stage 1 complaint category relates to “Service” with 68% of all stage 1 complaints being captured under this category. “Service” complaints capture customer dissatisfaction relating to any service that we provide and include complaints relating to planning applications, parking schemes, overhanging trees, grass cutting services, roadworks and the condition of pavements etc. There is generally no common theme regarding Service complaints which tend to be a result of impacts on individual customers. However, during 2008 – 2009 6 individual

customers raised concerns which were managed via the complaints process regarding the Blackboys to Uckfield school home to school transport provided by ESCC. One of the main areas of the complaints was about the children standing on the upper deck and the safety implications relating to this. As a result we introduced a second bus to manage the volume of users more safely and effectively. The school was also sent id passes for the children who were entitled to use this service, to prevent the numbers of users increasing. The second highest category of complaints in 2008 – 2009 related to customers complaining about a decision that we had made or advice that we had given in response to their initial enquiry. During 2008 – 2009 15% of all stage 1 complaint came under this category. In order to reduce customer complaints, in particular those relating to staff behaviour a Customer Care Project was launched in T&E April 2009. The projects key aims are to ensure that our performance within T&E meets our Customer Care Standards, improving the quality and the timeliness of our responses to our customers and the way that we interact with our customers. As part of the project the following activities have taken place to raise awareness across T&E of our commitment to Customer Care:

Over 100 staff across T&E have been briefed in the objectives of the Customer Care project and the importance of providing excellent customer service

All staff feedback from the briefing sessions regarding Customer Care and how it can be improved have been captured and will form part of a Customer Care project plan looking at training requirements and ongoing support that staff can be given

Approximately 350 staff across T&E have attended a Customer Care training course which included advice on effective complaint management

The Customer Care project is looking at opportunities to improve staff understanding of the complaints process and identify training requirements. Following this, it is recommended that a Complaints handling course is developed specifically for staff in T&E

A new online Customer Care training module has been implemented for new starters, to help them understand our Customer Care Standards and our commitment to meeting them

Monthly “post review” meetings have been set up between the Customer Care team, the PA’s who receive and log correspondence and Contact centre team managers. The objective being to focus on ensuring that post is responded to within the Customer Care Standards

Some of the “quick wins” identified from the Customer Care project have already started to be implemented e.g. reviewing the wording on Public Information Packs to better manage customer expectations regarding Highways work taking place within the customer’s area

All feedback is being divided between Project workstream leaders, each with their own specific focus (e.g. improving the use of technology, reviewing and improving contact processes, opportunities for continuous improvement, training and ongoing Customer Care toolkits to support staff)

A T&E “Compliments” e mail address has been set up to help us learn from what we do well alongside the areas that customers are complaining about

The Customer Care Manager for T&E has developed strong working relationship with the team managers from the highways Contact Centres and is also meeting with the Customer Care & Complaints Manager from Hastings and Eastbourne Borough Councils to discuss best practise and a joint working approach towards managing complaints

As part of the Customer Care Project we have established a set of measurements to help us monitor improvements relating to our Customer Care Standards and to reduce our complaints. The measurements include: • The volume of Stage 1 complaints that we receive • The % of complaints that are responded to within the Customer Care Standard timescales

• The % of e mails that are replied to overall, and also those e mails that receive an acknowledgement within 5 days, and a full response within 10 days

• The quality of written communication that we send out • The % of letters that are responded to within our Customer Care Standard timescales

Appendix 2

Freedom of Information and Data Protection

Main categories of applicant (%) 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06

Individual 40 50 43 47

Media enquiries 20 18 25 17

Commercial organisations 15 15 16 20

Political (Includes MPs, Councillors and national political parties)

12 4 7 4

Main closure reasons (%) 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06

Information provided in full 72 65 62 57

Information provided in part 9 16 13 14

Information not held 14 11 12 11

Information all exempt 2 3 5 8

We were unable to release all information requested in only 9 cases. The most commonly used exemptions were

• FOI section 40 – personal information • FOI section 41 – information provided in confidence • FOI section 43 – commercial interests

In responses to all requests we advise applicants of their right of appeal, the first stage of which is an internal review. Five such requests were received. In all of these the Monitoring Officer upheld the Freedom of Information Officer’s original decision.

If applicants are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review they may appeal to the Information Commissioner. We were not notified by the Commissioner’s Office of any appeals being received in this period.

All public authorities are required, within 20 working days of the receipt of a request, to provide the information or a valid reason for refusal. Performance in this area (95%) improved on last year’s (92%), which is creditable given the significant increase in the number of requests.

Requests for Information 1 April 2007 – 31 March 2008

Financial year 2008 - 09 : Type of request

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

DPA

FOI

Comparison of requests received by financial year

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Financial year 2008 - 09 : analysis by lead department

Adult Social Care8%

Chief Executive's Dept13%

Childrens Services Dept23%

Corporate Resources Directorate

13%

FOI Officer10%

Multiple depts9%

Transport & Environment

24%

Financial year 2008 - 09 : Category of applicants

Govt Dept0.40%

Individual40%

Political12%

Media20%

Legal3%

Action grp10%

Commercial15%

Financial year 2008 - 09 : analysis by closure reason

info released in full72%

no information held14%

request withdrawn0.62%available elsewhere

1%exceeds fees1%

no info released2%

info released in part9%

applicant won't clarify1%

Appendix 2: Local Authority Report - East Sussex CC For the period ending - 31/03/2009

LGO Advice Team

3

1

5

7

16

0

2

1

1

4

1

2

0

11

14

1

1

3

5

10

4

3

1

1

9

9

9

10

25

53Total

Forwarded to investigative team(new)

Forwarded to investigative team(resubmitted prematures)

Advice given

Formal/informal prematurecomplaints

TotalOtherTransportandhighways

EducationChildrenand familyservices

Adult careservices

Enquiries andcomplaints received

Investigative Team

TotalOutside

jurisdictionOmb discNo malNM repsM repsLSMI repsDecisions

40 00 19 12 4 3901/04/2008 / 31/03/2009

Avg no. of daysto respond

No. of First Enquiries

FIRST ENQUIRIESResponse times

01/04/2008 / 31/03/2009 13 24.4

2007 / 2008 9 30.3

2006 / 2007 20 30.7

Average local authority response times 01/04/2008 to 31/03/2009

Types of authority <= 28 days

%

29 - 35 days

%

> = 36 days

%

District councils 60 20 20

Unitary authorities 56 35 9

Metropolitan authorities 67 19 14

County councils 62 32 6

London boroughs 58 27 15

National park authorities 100 0 0