Complaints Handling Annual Report 2023/24

This Report outlines the Council’s performance against the complaints indicators set by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.

The Council implemented the revised Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP) during 2021/22 to comply with the SPSO expectations and to ensure our CHP can be benchmarked against other Local Authorities within Scotland.

The Council is committed to providing quality services that reflect the needs of our customers. We value complaints and use information from them to help us improve our services. The Council publishes its performance of complaints handling to provide assurance on performance, and to deliver continuous improvement.

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of the service provided by or on behalf of the Council. The CHP also explains what does not constitute a complaint advising that a complaint is not a routine first time request for a service or a first time report of a fault.

During 2023/2024, the Council received 497 complaints (compared to 409 in the previous year), all of which are recorded on the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system by Executive Officer Portfolio and under the relevant categories.

* By Executive Officer portfolio as defined at the start of 2023/24. Portfolios changed in-year, and new portfolios will be reflected in 2024/25 reporting.

The SPSO requires organisations to report on six indicators. The following tables detail the Council’s performance under each indicator, showing comparison with the previous year.

The number of complaints per thousand population allows benchmarking across all authorities. The number of complaints received in 2023/2024 has increased by 21.52% compared to the previous year.

The total number of complaints closed in the reporting year was 501 compared to 432 in the previous year.

The difference between the volume of complaints closed (501) compared to complaints received (497) in the current year, is due to a number of complaints being finalised within the reporting year that were actually received in the previous reporting year, and also a number of complaints received in the reporting year that remained open at the end of the year.

Each complaint is categorised in the CRM into one of 5 categories. The two tables below, show the split of complaints closed across both Category of Complaint and Executive Officer Area.

The complaints process comprises 2 stages. Stage 1 known as the frontline response and is generally for issues that are simple and straightforward, and Stage 2 known as the investigation stage, for more complex or serious issues, or where a customer remains dissatisfied following the outcome of a Stage 1 complaint. These latter complaints are known as escalated complaints.

The total number of complaints closed in 2023/2024 is higher than last year, reflecting the increased number of complaints received. Compared to the previous year, during 2023/24 a slightly lower of complaints were handled at Stage 1 with a slightly higher percentage handled at Stage 2 and escalation.

Each complaint is closed with one of four outcomes:

• Upheld
• Partially upheld
• Not upheld
• Resolved

This indicator shows a breakdown of how complaints were closed for each of the stages.

Stage 1 complaints – the percentage of Stage 1 complaints upheld or partially upheld this year is higher than in the previous year. There is also an increase in the percentage of complaints not upheld compared to the previous year, but a decrease in the percentage of complaints with the “Resolved” outcome compared to the previous year.

Stage 2 complaints – the figures show a reduction in the percentage of complaints upheld or partially upheld compared to the previous year, with an increase in the number and percentage of complaints not upheld.

Escalated complaints (a complaint previously handled at Stage 1 then escalated to Stage 2) – this year show a reduction in the percentage of complaints upheld or partially upheld. The percentage of escalated complaints not upheld has increased compared to the previous year. It should be borne in mind that a partially upheld outcome does mean that some elements of the complaint have not been upheld.

* Denotes the same basis as that used previously in the table

The Complaints Handling Procedure sets out the SPSO timescales for handling complaints at Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 complaints should be closed and responded to within 5 working days, which can be extended to 10 on occasion. Stage 2 complaints should be closed and responded to within 20 working days.

This indicator shows our average time for responding to complaints. There has been a significant improvement in the response time for Stage 1 complaints compared to the previous year, bringing the average time within the 5 day timescale as indicated below.

Whilst the average time for handing Stage 2 complaints is still in excess of the 20 days, there has still been improvement from the previous year, with the figure reducing to 24.5 days from the previous year’s 27.5 days. This improvement was due to a number of complex outstanding complaints having been concluded within the reporting period that impacted on the figures.

Comparing the 2023/24 data with 2022/23 for escalated complaints also shows a significant improvement, with complaints handling timescales reducing from 36.5 days down to 23.6 days.

Indicator 5 assesses our performance compared to the timescales set out by the SPSO and our CHP. Overall, there has been further improvement in the percentage of complaints concluded within timescales at all Stages.

This indicator measures extensions requested before the deadline has been reached. The figures for 2023/2024 show percentage reductions for Stage 1 and Stage 2 and status quo for escalated complaints.

The SPSO requires councils to have processes in place to help them learn from complaints and review and change service delivery if required. Complaints handling data is important feedback and an opportunity to improve our services and we will continue to monitor recommendations and outcomes/responses for learning opportunities in partnership with other Council services.

If dissatisfied with our response, some customers will choose to take their complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman whose office will review both our service delivery and our handling of the customer’s complaint. If the Ombudsman upholds or partially upholds a complaint, they will make recommendations to the Council. These recommendations are discussed with the service teams and any required changes are implemented with evidence provided to the Ombudsman. Specific improvement actions will vary depending on the nature of each case.

The following table summarises the complaints considered by the SPSO in 2023/24. The vast majority of these, over 87% (21 out of 24) were not taken forward by SPSO. The one that was investigated was not upheld and we are awaiting a decision on the remaining two.

Information from the previous year (2022/23) is shown below for comparison purposes. The data is broadly similar to 2023/24, with over 92% (24 out of 26) not being progressed by SPSO and one investigation ongoing.

The SPSO is introducing new guidance in 2024/25 called Child Friendly Complaints. This is intended to ensure that all complaints are handled in a manner that respects and promotes children’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the UNCRC). The process requires to be used when:

• A child raises a complaint
• An adult raises a complaint at the request of a child
• An adult raises a complaint about matters affecting a child.

Once SPSO guidance is published, the Complaints Team will be engage with services to provide advice and guidance on this new process and to ensure the Council meets the requirements.

The Complaints service area moved from Finance & Digital Services to Customer Services & Organisational Development in 2024/25, and a review of performance indicators is being undertaken, to better provide Executive Officers with data on complaints received to inform performance improvements.

The Complaints service area is also contributing to the design of the complaint handling management section of the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, due to be launched in Quarter 3 of 2024/25. The enhanced reporting and analytics capabilities of the new CRM will facilitated better complaints data.

The Complaints Team is always keen to engage with any services who would like a discussion or training on the Council’s complaints handling process.