Decision details

A report was presented by Angela Esslinger, Complaints and Appeals Manager providing complaints and customer feedback on statutory social care complaints for Adults and Children and Young People 2016/17, and the corporate complaints annual report 2016/17.

It was reported that 479 adult social care complaints had been received in 2016/17, which was an overall increase by 15% from the previous year.  However, the number of compliments outweighed the number of complaints, with a total of 538 being received.  Complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman in relation to adult social care had stayed steady over the last few years and in 63% of the 30 LGO complaints received, the action taken by the County Council was considered to be sufficient, with additional action being required in 17% of the cases.

It was reported that 220 complaints had been received in relation to children's social care, which was an overall increase of 4% from the previous year.  Only a small number of compliments were received due to the nature of the work in relation to children's social care.  The Committee noted that no children's social care complaint had resulted in a Stage 3 Review Panel having to be held in 2016/17.  There had been a rise in LGO complaints for children's social care; however, only 21% of these were upheld/partly upheld.  This showed that in over half of all cases, council action had been sufficient, with additional action required in 21% of cases.

In relation to non-statutory corporate complaints, 934 were dealt with during 2016/17, although 99% of these were resolved early in the complaint pathway and 'nipped in the bud', as part of ongoing business matters and by proactive management.  Most of these complaints were about Highways issues due to the considerable size of this service and the fact that roads impact on every Lancashire citizen.  The Highways service attracted a large volume of enquiries and, as a result, was also the most complimented community service. The Committee noted that communication with the public was being improved in relation to corporate complaints.  It was reported that a total of 592 corporate compliments had been received in 2016/17, and that the LGO did not uphold any corporate complaints referral in 2016/17.

In response to a query, it was confirmed that complaints received by the County Council in relation to external care providers, were followed up and that mystery shoppers were currently used in adult social care.  The Committee noted that this may be something which could be explored for children's social care.

Resolved:  That the Cabinet Committee:

(i)  note the statutory social care complaints annual reports for Adults and Children and Young People 2016/17, acknowledging the associated learning, so that the County Council can meet its legal obligations.

(ii)  note the corporate complaints annual report 2016/17, acknowledging the associated learning.