Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on October 17 2017 and

May 23 2018 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

All members of the Committee and officers present introduced themselves to-

the members of the Committee.

The Head of Law made a presentation to the committee on “The Role of The

Standards Committee.”

During the course of the presentation members of the Committee raised

various questions and made enquiry about the possibility of further training. If

members  have particular needs for training  the Head of Law agreed to arrange it.   

RESOLVED that the presentation by the Head of Law be noted.

The Head of Public Services presented the report which provided

performance information for 2016/17 on complaints dealt with by the Council

and its housing partners at Stages 1 and 2 of the Corporate Complaints

procedure and complaints and enquiries to the Mayor, Councillors and MPs

logged on the Council’s complaints management system during 2016/17.

The report and presentation did not include complaints or enquiries in relation

to adult and children’s social care both of which are reported individually and

publicised according to statutory guidance.

The Independent Adjudicators report and the Local Government Ombudsman

report were also considered.

The report included a breakdown of complaints and enquiries on a ward

basis.

It was explained that the casework review had been implemented in 2016/17

and had resulted in a new corporate complaints and casework team. There

had been a big increase in complaints, up by 33%, and the scale of the

Council’s savings as a result of the government’s programme of austerity was

a significant reason for the increase.

It was observed that Customer Services appear to be doing something right

and it was suggested that there may be lessons to be learnt from that team.

It was also suggested that there may be some merit in adopting the Local

Government Ombudsman’s definition of complaints and this may assist in

reducing the number of complaints.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Paul Aladenika, Principal Policy Officer, introduced the report and explained

that this is a standard report presented to the Standards Committee annually.

This year’s report has been revised to take on board the previous comments 

of the Standards Committee for the report to be formatted differently.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Head of Law presented the item and invited the Committee to comment.

RESOLVED that the work programme shown in paragraph 3.3 be agreed.

The meeting closed at 7.15pm