Issue - meetings

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy submitted a report that summarised the customer complaints that had been made to the Council. He said this was an annual update and it also included the vexatious complainant policy.

Members were advised that it tended to be Development Management and Operations that the public most complained about and full details were explained in the report. Members were advised that after those 2 areas, the next most complained service areas were Revenues and Benefits and the Housing Service.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy referred to a number of extracts from the local government and social care ombudsman, which was where customers were referred to if they continued to be dissatisfied with East Herts Council’s stage one or stage two responses to a complaint.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that he believed that the complaints process was healthy and was not necessarily about being right or wrong.

Members were advised that a longstanding issue had been once of performance in that the Council had not been responding to complaints quickly enough. The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy explained that Leadership Team had been receiving regular updates and that performance had now improved.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that the vexatious complainant policy had not been used and that the current policy did not have the effect that Officers would have liked.  He hoped that the new policy would have more impact.

The new policy would give Officers more flexibility in terms of how they dealt with people.

Members were advised that losing the label of vexatious would make dealing with complaints more effective as Officers could restrict the volume of contact or limit this to email only by way an example of the scale of intervention. The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said the new policy would have to be taken to full Council.

Councillor Goldspink said she had been very concerned in terms of the deficiencies such as the failure to log complaints and the loss of knowledge when Officers left the Authority. She said however that she was very pleased to see that the suggestions of a critical friend had been sought and that these suggestions were being adopted.

Councillor Curtis proposed and Councillor Goldspink seconded, a motion that the issues in the report and progress made to date on addressing them be noted and that the unreasonable and persistent Behaviour Policy be recommended to Council for approval.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - that (A) the issues in the report and progress made to date on addressing them be noted; and

(B)   the Unreasonable and Persistent Behaviour Policy be recommended to Council for approval.