Annex 1 – CMT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City of York Council

Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvements Report

April 2024 – March 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryn Roberts

Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer

Cath Murray

Information Governance Operational Manager (Previously Designated Complaints Officer for children’s social care complaints and Complaints Manager for adult social care and corporate complaints).

 

Index                                                                                                                  

 

Title                                                                                                  Section

Introduction                                                                                               1

Ombudsman investigations and annual performance                            2

What is a complaint                                                                                  3

Effectiveness of the Procedures                                                              4

Themes                                                                                                     5

Cost of delivering the complaints procedure                                           6

 

Children’s Social Care Complaints

Context                                                                                                      7

Who can make a complaint                                                                      8

Grading of Complaints                                                                             9

Activity                                                                                                       10

Total Complaints Made                                                                             11

Comparison with the preceding year                                                       12

Outcomes of complaints                                                                           13

Response Times                                                                                       14

Stage One                                                                                                 15

Stage Two                                                                                                 16

Stage Three                                                                                               17

Percentage Escalation                                                                             18

Equalities Monitoring Information                                                             19

Who made the complaints                                                                       20

Costs and Payments                                                                                21

Alternative Dispute Resolution                                                                 22

Learning Lessons/Practice Improvements                                              23

 

Adult Social Care Complaints

Context                                                                                                      24

Who can make a complaint                                                                      25

Grading of Complaints                                                                             26

Activity                                                                                                       27

Comparison with the preceding year                                                       28

Outcomes of complaints                                                                           29

Response Times                                                                                       30

Green                                                                                                        31

Amber                                                                                                       32

Red                                                                                                            33

Equalities Monitoring Information                                                             34

Who made the complaints                                                                       35

Payments                                                                                                  36

Alternative Dispute Resolution                                                                 37

Complaints dealt with by The Local Authority and NHS Bodies            38

Learning Lessons/Practice Improvements                                              39

 

Public Health                                                                                           40

 

Corporate Complaints Procedure

Context                                                                                                      41

Who can make a complaint                                                                      42

Grading of Complaints                                                                             43

Response Times                                                                                       44

 

Detail of complaints

Grade One                                                                                                45

Grade Two                                                                                                46

Learning Lessons/Practice Improvements                                              47

Payments                                                                                                  48

Alternative Dispute Resolution                                                                 49

 

Details of LGSCO cases & compliance Report                   Annex 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1       Introduction

 

In this period complaints and feedback were managed for all council areas through the Corporate Governance Team (CGT) to ensure that comments, complaints, concerns, and compliments are dealt with in an independent and consistent way across the council.

 

The team’s name and management has changed to the Complaint, Feedback and Compliance Team (CFCT) which will be reflected in the next report. However ongoing or new work identified for completion in 2025 – 2026 is noted in this report as being completed by the CFCT.

 

Complaints about adult and children’s social care services are dealt with under two separate pieces of legislation:

·        The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006

·        The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009

 

Complaints about other council services are dealt with under the council’s 4cs procedure for Complaints, Concerns, Comments and Compliments which can be found at Raise a comment, compliment, complaint or concern – City of York Council. This procedure was designed using the guidance and good practice specified in the statutory procedures and by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS).

 

It is essential that all teams delivering services (including contractors or providers of services on our behalf) formally capture and record complaints. It is only by doing so that complaints can be tracked and where things have gone wrong, managers can ensure that matters are put right. Officers across the council are therefore encouraged and reminded how to recognise complaints and report them through the complaints and feedback process.

 

Members of the CGT worked as hybrid workers during this period attending appropriate venues as needed to deliver training sessions, conduct investigations, meet with customers etc. The hybrid working arrangements have a positive impact on the service provision, allowing the flexibility to speak to customers, key staff, and managers, at a time and in a manner convenient to all, and appropriate for the circumstances of the contact. This flexibility supported the provision of timely and thorough responses to complainants regardless of whether the complaint is upheld or not.

 

 

2       Ombudsmen investigations and annual performance

 

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) can investigate complaints about council services following the conclusion of the relevant council complaints procedure. The exceptions to this are:

·        the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) is the regulator for most housing related services.

·        the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the regulator for all information governance complaints, including complaints about data breaches, and responses to requests under the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation, Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations.

 

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

 

The LGSCO provides and publishes annual performance data and their annual letter to the council covering April to March, on their website at  Annual reviews of complaints - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

 

For the second year, the LGSCO did not comment on or identify issues or areas of concern for the council in their annual letter, as they had done in previous years.

 

The LGSCO received 53 cases about the council in April 2024 to March 2025 with 50 cases being concluded within this period. This includes cases which may have been received but not concluded in the previous reporting period. Of the 50 cases, 10 were considered as a detailed investigation and of these 7 were upheld. Details for the 7 upheld cases are shown at Annex 1.

 

 

LGSCO decided cases	2022 - 2023		2023 - 2024		2024 - 2025
	How many	% Rounded down to whole number	How many	% Rounded down to whole number	How many	% Rounded down to whole number
Closed after initial enquiries	38	51%	17	41%	24	48%
Referred for local resolution	6	8%	11	26%	12	24%
Advice given	7	9%	3	7%	0	--
Incomplete/invalid	1	1%	1	2%	4	8%
Not upheld – detailed investigations	3	4%	2	4%	3	6%
Upheld – detailed investigations	19	25%	7	17%	7	14%
Total	74	--	41	--	50	--

Remedies from the LGSCO’s 7 upheld decisions	How many
Apology, Provide training and/or guidance	1
Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble	1
Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, Provide training and/or guidance, Procedure or policy change/review	1
Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, Financial Redress: Quantifiable Loss, Provide services to person affected	1
Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, Provide services/information to others affected	1
Provide services to person affected	1
Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, New appeal/review or reconsidered decision	1
Total	7

 

Further details from the LGSCO’s annual performance data report are provided at Annex 1 and additional highlights are shown below, as the data calculations the LGSCO chooses to publish, do not tell the full performance narrative.

 

·        70% of all detailed investigation were upheld. This compares to an average of 80% in similar authorities. However, as the LGSCO calculates this using only the total number of cases where their decision was to either upheld or not upheld, if calculated using the total number of cases where they have decided, that figure falls to 14% upheld.

 

·         In 100% of cases the LGSCO was satisfied that the council had successfully implemented their recommendations. This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.

 

Alongside their annual review, the LGSCO publishes complaints data at local authority level, which can be found on their website at:

 

your council’s performance

 

The data and reports for the council can be found at:

 

https://www.lgo.org.uk/your-councils-performance/city-of-york-council/statistics

 

Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the LGSCO dealt with 50 complaints. Of these:

• 16 were not for the LGSCO or not ready for them to investigate.
• 24 complaints were assessed and closed.
• 10 complaints were investigated.

 

7 of the 10 complaints investigated by the LGSCO were upheld and are reported on the LGSCO’s website as ‘70% of cases upheld’. This compares to an average of 80% in similar authorities in this reporting period.

 

This is an improvement compared to the previous year (2023/2024) where there were 78% of cases upheld.

 

However, if the upheld cases were calculated using the number of cases they dealt with – which is 50 in 2024/2025, the upheld cases would be 14%.

 

Of the 7 upheld complaints, there were no cases where the council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the LGSCO. This compares to an average of 10% in similar authorities. For the previous year, the council had no cases compared to an average of 13% in similar authorities.

 

The LGSCO recorded compliance outcomes in 6 of the 7 upheld cases and for all 6, they were satisfied with the actions taken. This means the council has a 100% compliance rate with recommendations made by the LGSCO and compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities. Also, this is the same % performance for the council as the previous year. For the one upheld case there were no outcomes for the council to take, as they had already been taken during the LGSCO’s investigation.

 

In a change to the LGSCO’s approach, they were only writing again to organisations before 16 July 2025, where there is exceptional practice or where they have concerns about an organisation’s complaint handling; this means not all organisations will get an ‘additional’ letter. I can confirm the council did not receive such an additional letter.

 

Housing Ombudsman Service Decided Cases

 

There were 3 cases determined by the HOS with 5 different subject areas of complaint (A case can have more than one category).

 

	2022 - 2023	2023 – 2024	2024 - 2025
Determinations (cases)	4	3	3
Findings	6	10	5
Maladministration Findings	2	7	3
Orders made	2	12	9
Recommendations	5	3	2
CHFOs (Complaint handling failure orders)	0	0	0
Compensation	£200.00	£5800.00	£1,150
Maladministration rate	33%	88%	60%

 

This shows that whilst there were the same number of cases the HOS made a “determination” on compared to 2023- 2024, there were 50% less “findings” which are points of fault and fewer orders made for the council to put right in 2024-2025.

 

 

Findings by category	2022 - 2023	2023 – 2024	2024 - 2025
Severe maladministration	0	2	0
Maladministration	0	5	2
Service failure	2	0	1
Mediation	0	0	0
Redress	0	0	0
No maladministration	4	1	2
Outside jurisdiction	0	2	0
Withdrawn	0	0	0
TOTAL	6	10	5

 

The subcategory figures for 2024 -2025 are:

 

Subcategories	2022 – 2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Delay in escalating or responding to a complaint	0	2	0
Noise	2	0	0
Responsive repairs – general	1	0
Responsive repairs – leaks/damp/mould	0	2	1
Decants (temp or permanent)	0	1	0
Transfer application	1	0
Information held on file	0	1	0
Other poor handling of complaint	1	1	1
Engagement on the complaint	1	0	1
Reimbursement of costs incurred by resident	0	1	0
Gas inspections and safety	0	0	1
Personal (e.g. harassment /discrimination)	0	0	1

 

The maladministration rate is calculated by the number of findings of severe maladministration, maladministration and service failure expressed as a percentage of the total number of findings and they do not count the outside of jurisdiction or withdrawn figures.

 

The total compensation paid in 2024 - 2025 of £1,150 related to the below categories:

 

·        Property condition - £850.00

·        Complaints handling - £300.00

 

The total compensation paid in 2023 – 2024 was £200.00 related to the below categories:

 

·        Property condition - £3400.00

·        Moving to a property - £1500.00

·        Complaints handling - £900.00

 

The council completed its annual online self-assessment for Year 2 (2025/2026) of the HOS complaint handling code, covering part of the period addressed in this annual report. The submission was made via the HOS online portal and was completed ahead of the 30 September 2025 deadline. It is publicly available on the Council’s website at:

Housing Ombudsman Self Assessment – City of York Council

Following the previous year’s submission, the HOS made several recommendations to improve the council’s corporate complaints procedure. All recommendations have been fully implemented within the timescales set by the Ombudsman.

The HOS typically publishes its annual landlord performance report in late September or October. The report covering the period for this annual report is now available on their website at:

 Landlord-Report-City-of-York-Council (2).pdf

3       What is a Complaint?

 

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction however made, about the actions, decisions, or apparent failings of a local authority’s social services provision, and/or the level or nature of a council service or policy, which requires a response. If it is possible to resolve the complaint immediately this does not need to be logged through the complaint procedure.

 

A complaint is not a request for a service that is made for the first time. For example, if a customer complains that a streetlight is not working, we will treat it as a service request that we aim to fulfil by repairing it within the service level agreement. If we then fail to repair it within that timescale, and the customer is still unhappy, it should then be defined and treated as a complaint.

 

4       Effectiveness of the Procedures

 

All staff and managers are proactively encouraged to participate in regular training and awareness raising, about the complaints and feedback procedures and learning lessons from complaint themes. There were 20 separate training and awareness sessions for staff covering the adult, children, and corporate procedures during the period for this report.

 

This refresher training is important to ensure that key messages are understood by staff including:

 

·        When and how to make people aware of the complaints and feedback procedure.

·        The importance of positive messages being recorded to provide a balanced picture of services.

·        Learning from complaints. Some of the key learning points include the need to:

 

o   Ensure people are asked if there are any support needs, they want us to be aware of and that this is clearly recorded.

o   That procedures include a process for senior managers to be able to consider any exception circumstances, so that decisions are not made in a blanket way.

o   That records are accurate and up to date, including what was considered in the decision-making process, rather than just the outcome of decisions.

o   That people are kept up to date, particularly when there may be unexpected and unavoidable delays.

o   That people are clearly told what can and cannot be achieved, with clear explanations and where relevant sign posting to other sources of support or information.

o   The importance of being able to respond in a timely way to complaints and provide proportionate remedies to resolve complaints, without the need for people to escalate this to an Ombudsman.

 

These sessions could be attended in person or virtually and were provided at times and venues to suit the different working patterns of staff.

 

In addition to this, guidance is provided to assist managers in adult and children’s services with completing thorough investigations and comprehensive responses including on a case-by-case basis. The CGT have continued to collaborate with the providers of independent investigators, who have knowledge and experience of complaints across several authorities to ensure our practice and guidance is effective and appropriate to fulfil our obligations and ensure best practice in complaints handling.

 

We continued a process of responding to complaints without the need for an investigation in this reporting period. This is for cases where it is considered an investigation is not necessary to identify the reasonable and proportionate outcome required to resolve the complaint in an effective and proportionate way.

 

Managers are given a timescale and asked to complete the action required, where this is not achieved, a more detailed investigation will take place. Customers were also invited to contact the CGT, if they did not get a response within the agreed timescale, or if anything remained outstanding.

 

When managers in adult and children’s services provide a response to a complaint, they are asked to record what will be done to resolve it, what lessons have been learnt and what action will be taken to improve services and avoid problems being repeated, which is also in place for corporate complaints.  The CGT proactively monitored the completion of both action plans and lessons learned.

 

A summary of the information received regarding the lessons learnt and action taken is included in this report at sections 23, 39 and 48.

 

 

5       Themes

 

The main themes this year continued to include the quality and timeliness of communication. Several complaints are logged as “lack of action,” which is where information had not been provided, or calls and requests for contact were not returned.

 

6       Cost of delivering the complaints procedure including the corporate procedure and total payments:

 

There are ongoing costs to deliver an efficient and effective complaints service. These costs should be seen against the inherent costs of not providing this service such as

·        customer dissatisfaction escalating

·        an increase in the number of and amounts awarded as financial remedies being recommended by the Ombudsmen.

·        increased risk of judicial reviews

·        non-compliance with legislation

·        increased risk of reputational damage

 

The total actual spends for the full service including the Information Governance provision, salary and on-costs was £410,086.51 compared to £421,717.00 in the previous year.

 

The financial remedies payments made as part of the three complaints procedures are provided at sections 2, 36 and 49 in this report.

 

The council must provide investigating officers and independent people for social care complaints where required and the costs including the providers core costs, in this reporting period was £33,329. This is a small decrease from last year’s cost of £34,783.59 which was an increase from the costs the year before of £28,872.96.

 

Whilst there has been a small decrease in this reporting period from last year, it is within an expected range and does fluctuate from year to year.

 

The total costs of payments made to individuals to remedy complaints are below and the individual case costs are shown in the later sections of this report. The total is significantly lower than last year which was £9763.00.

 

Children’s social care complaints	£600.00
Adult social care complaints	£1,250.00
Corporate complaints	£1,725.00
TOTAL	£3575.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children Social Care

Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvements Report

April 2024 – March 2025

 

7       Context

 

The following information relates to complaints made during the twelve months between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 for children under the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006.

 

Ongoing work with managers is conducted to ensure the below messages continue to be understood:

·        the importance of responding appropriately to concerns.

·        improving customer experience

·        reducing the need for avoidable complaints

·        ensuring complaints are dealt with fully, without the need for them to be escalated to a higher stage unnecessarily.

 

We are pleased to report that in this reporting period, there were no cases of complaints where a response was not provided.

 

A number of complaints were responded to outside timescales however this can be due to the complexity of the case and the need to ensure a comprehensive investigation and response, and work is ongoing to understand and reduce delays where possible.

 

All timescales contained within this report are for working days.

 

In addition, the numbers of compliments are also recorded, and these are:

 

Compliments received

 

17/18	18/19	19/20	20/21	21/22	22/23	23/24	24/25
17	22	22	59	21	35	36	72

 

We are pleased the emphasis about the importance of recording compliments in the awareness training, has resulted in a significant increase in the numbers being reported in this period. We remain aware there will be more compliments received than are shown in the table above.

 

Examples of some of the compliments received:

 

·        Listened and really supported me while trying to keep me happy and excited for my future while offering also support to my parent, really appreciate you and the team.

·        Really appreciate all your help and thank you for being so patient with us and really listening to us.

·        Really creative and she just talks to me like she’s a real person.

·        Lovely manner on the phone, reassuring worker would find someone to speak to customer urgently.

·        Thank you so much. It’s a relief talking with you today. You actually listened and that meant a lot to me. Thank you for going above and beyond. We’re grateful.

·        We really do appreciate your efforts, and they do have a real impact. We're hoping that slowly getting to grips with AAC can make a real difference to the way we're able to communicate as a family.

·        massive thank you for your help and support with putting a new plan in place.

·        The differences and support has really made the difference to where family are today.

·        Really listened & showed us real empathy and you got things sorted in the couple of days you covered.

·        A big thank you to your beautiful team for all your efforts, hard work, overtime into every child and young person you look after! You guys are such a solid and supportive team.

·        Thank you for how professional and easy you was to liaise. I wish all authority's had people like you in them then things would be straight forward and amicable thank you once again.

·        Thank-you for fighting my corner. I was so scared when social services got involved as I love my children so much and I thought I was going to lose them when actually you've made me a stronger person and helped me more than you will ever know.

·        Professional and easy to liaise with. I wish all authority's had people like this.

·        Truly appreciate all the effort you have put into ensuring continued access to Short Breaks support.

·        Incredibly approachable, allowing for a naturally open and trusting relationship to form.

·        Supports our family and goes above and beyond to ensure we as foster carers can deliver support.

·        Social worker has been fantastic throughout the whole time she has been assigned to us. She is very approachable and communicates well.

·        Have struck a good relationship, and I love how respectfully and professionally work is completed.

·        Grateful for the help and support that we received. The dedication and willingness to listen and assist have made such a positive impact.

·        I honestly can't thank you enough for all the help and support you've given us, you've helped change our lives for the better. I will be forever grateful. Best social worker ever, don't forget it.

·        Social worker was really understanding and very helpful. I felt comfortable talking to her and discussing strategies.

·        I really appreciate all the help and visits you have done for me and my family and also being there at our difficult days which will not be forgotten!

 

The legislation makes it clear that people should be able to provide feedback and have this responded to, without this being seen as a complaint and so we also record and report concerns, suggestions, and requests. The figures for this reporting period alongside previous years are shown in the table below.

 

Numbers of concerns, suggestions, and requests

 

17/18	18/19	19/20	20/21	21/22	22/23	23/24	24/25
26	20	33	29	19	7	8	3

 

8       Who can make a complaint

 

·        Any child or young person (or a parent, or someone who has parental responsibility) who is being looked after by the local authority or is not looked after by them but is in need.

·        Any local authority foster carer (including those caring for children placed through independent fostering agencies).

·        Children leaving care.

·        Special Guardians

·        A child or young person (or parent) to whom a Special Guardian order is in place.

·        Any person who has applied for an assessment under section 14F (3) or (4).

·        Any child or young person who may be adopted, their parents and guardians.

·        Persons wishing to adopt a child.

·        Any other person whom arrangements for the provision of adoption services extend.

·        Adopted persons, their parents, natural parents and former guardians and such other person as the local authority consider has sufficient interest in the child or young person’s welfare to warrant their representations being considered by them.

 

Where a complaint is received from a representative on behalf of a child or young person, we will, where appropriate, confirm the child or young person is happy for this to happen, and that the complaint received reflects their views.

 

The manager for complaints and feedback (complaints manager) in consultation with relevant operational managers will decide whether the representative is suitable to act in this capacity and has sufficient interest in the child’s welfare. If it is decided that a person is not suitable to act as a representative for a child or young person, they will be informed of the decision in writing by the complaint manager. The complaint will then fall outside the statutory procedure however they will be able to raise the complaint through the 4Cs corporate complaints procedure.

 

Complaints may also be made by adults relating to a child or young person but are not being made on the child or young person’s behalf. The complaints manager in consultation with operational managers will decide whether the person has sufficient interest in the child or young person’s welfare for the complaint to be considered. The child or young person may also be consulted as part of this decision.

 

9       Grading of complaints

 

Complaints are graded following an assessment of issues including severity, complexity, risk to the customer and other customers, risk to the authority, history of similar complaints and likelihood of future similar complaints. Other considerations include, the outcomes wanted to resolve the complaint, who is best placed to consider and effectively respond to the complaint and the complainant’s views of how the complaint should be dealt with.

 

Stage one is dealt with by line managers of the service area the complaint is about. This includes where the service is being provided on behalf of the council by an external contractor. The expectation is that the managers will have the knowledge and understanding of the issues and delegated responsibility to be able to resolve complaints at this stage quickly, without the need for an in-depth formal investigation.

 

The legislation requires stage one complaints to be responded to within 10 working days. This can be extended for a further 10 working days in some circumstances, for example where further time is needed to arrange an advocate, or where staff may be away from work. This can only be extended with the agreement of the complainant.

 

Stage two is implemented where the complainant is dissatisfied with the findings of stage one, or where it is assessed as being appropriate to be considered and responded to at this stage, due to issues including the severity, complexity, or risk.

 

Stage two requires an investigation is conducted by either an internal manager who has not had any previous involvement in the complaint and has no line management responsibility for the area being complained about, or an external investigating officer. The Director of Children’s Safeguarding adjudicates on the findings of the investigation.

 

The council must offer an advocate to assist children and young people in making a complaint and appoint an Independent Person to oversee the investigation process at this stage. Stage two complaints falling within the social services statutory complaints procedures should be dealt with in 25 days, although in certain cases this can be extended to 65 days.

 

Stage Three of the complaints process is the review panel. Where complainants wish to proceed with complaints about statutory social service functions, the council is required to establish a complaints review panel. The panel makes recommendations to the Corporate Director of Children and Education, who then decides and provides a written response on the complaint and any action to be taken.

 

Complaints review panels must be made up of three independent panellists. There are various timescales relating to stage three complaints. These are:

 

·        setting up the panel within 30 working days.

·        producing the panel’s report within 5 working days of the panel; and

·        producing the local authority’s response within 15 days following receipt of the report.

 

A further option for complainants is the LGSCO who is empowered to investigate where a council’s own investigations have not resolved the complaint. Whilst complainants can refer their complaint to the LGSCO at any time, the LGSCO normally refers the complaint back to the council, unless the council has been given sufficient opportunity to consider and respond to the complaint.

 

10     Activity

 

The CGT recorded 35 complaints under the children’s social care procedure during this reporting period, compared with a total of 40 in the preceding year.

 

 

11     Total complaints made:

 

Of the 35 complaints dealt with:

·         24 were investigated at stage one of the social care procedures.

·         8 complaints in total heard at stage two with 4 of these being moved straight to stage 2, due to their complexity and or severity.

·        3 complaints were raised at stage 3.

 

In addition to the 35 complaints made under the statutory procedure, 2 complaints were made under the corporate procedure. These were both dealt with at grade 1 and both were not upheld, with 1 being responded to within 20 working days and the other over this timescale.

 

12     Comparison with the preceding year

 

The numbers of complaints being received are small and typically fluctuate each year and this is typical of social care complaints received across Yorkshire and Humberside. The figures show a decrease of 12.5% for this reporting period. The reasons for this are highlighted in the following tables.

 

It should be noted that high numbers of complaints should not be seen as a negative and can be indicative of a well-publicised and accessible complaints process. Low complaint volumes are potentially a sign that residents are unable to complain. The complaint procedure should however seek to learn lessons and improve processes and practice to avoid complaints about the same issues being repeated.

 

 

13     Outcomes of complaints – total

 

	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024	2024-2025
Upheld	3	7	8	6
Partly upheld	11	15	16	13
Not upheld	12	17	7	6
Not proved	0	0	1	0
Not pursued	5	4	5	4
No response	9	0	0	0
Resolved without investigation	0	0	1	5
Ongoing	2	3	2	1
Total	42	46	40	35

 

14     Response times

 

A key requirement of complaints procedures is to ensure that individuals are informed of the outcome of their complaints, in an appropriate time.

 

The timescales in working days for children’s social care complaints as set out in the regulation are:

 

·        10 days at Stage 1 (with a further 10 days for more complex complaints or additional time if an advocate is required).

·        25 days at Stage 2 (with maximum extension to 65 days).

·        20 days for the complainant to request a Review Panel.

·        30 days to convene and hold the Review Panel at Stage 3.

·        5 days for the Panel to issue its findings: and

·        15 days for the local authority to respond to the findings.

 

Details of complaints by stage

 

15     Stage one complaints

 

There were 24 stage one complaints compared to 30 last year.

 

We are pleased to note that as expected, the numbers during this reporting period are slightly less than those in the preceding year.

 

Whilst it is not always a negative to receive larger numbers of complaints, as this can show the procedure is accessible, customers are supported to make complaints and provides invaluable feedback, this does indicate that service areas are able to resolve concerns effectively without the need for them to progress to complaints.

 

Stage one - theme of complaint

 

	2021 - 2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Attitude of staff	1	-	0	1
Disagree with Policy	1	1	0	1
Disagree with Assessment	5	3	4	1
Discrimination	-		0	0
Inappropriate Action	5	8	8	6
Lack of Action	11	19	7	9
Quality of Advice/ Communication	8	5	11	6
TOTAL	31	36	30	24

 

You will note the highest theme this year is about Lack of Action the quality of communication, although in some cases, the lack of action included lack of communication about action that was being taken.

 

Stage one - responding in time performance

 

	2021 - 2022	%*	2022 – 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 - 2025	%*
Within 10 days	11	35%	22	61%	13	43%	6	25%
Within 20 days	1	3%	8	22%	11	37%	7	29%
Over 20 days	16	52%	2	6%	2	7%	7	29%
Not Pursued	3	10%	4	11%	4	13%%	4	17%
TOTAL	31		36		30		24

*% figures are rounded to the nearest whole number

 

Although there is an increase in the number of complaints responded to over 20 working days, we are pleased that the implied 83% satisfaction from only 17% escalating to stage 2 means that these delays were often relating to ensuring the complaint could be understood and responded to fully.

 

 

Stage one – outcomes

 

	2021 - 2022	%*	2022 - 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 – 2025	%*
Upheld	3	10%	7	19%	8	27%	3	13%
Partially Upheld	7	22%	10	28%	11	37%	7	29%
Not Upheld	9	29%	14	39%	5	17%	5	20%
Not Proven	0	--	0	0	1	3%	0
Not Pursued	3	10%	4	11%	4	13%	4	17%
Resolved without investigation	--	--	--	--	1	3%	5	20%
No response	9	29%	0	-	0	--	0	0
Ongoing	--	--	1	3%	0	--	0	0
TOTAL	31	--	36	--	30	--	24	--

*% figures are rounded to the nearest whole number

 

16     Stage two complaints

There were 8 stage two complaints received and concluded in this reporting period the same number as last year.

 

It is important to remember, complaints at stage two are often complex, with several elements and there may also be the need to arrange advocates and appointments with both staff and complainants, particularly at adjudication.

 

Stage two - theme of Complaint

 

	2021 - 2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Attitude of staff	-	-	-
Disagree with Policy	-	-	-	1
Disagree with Assessment	-	1	1	3
Discrimination	-	-	-
Inappropriate Action	4	2	3	1
Lack of Action	3	3	2	2
Quality of Advice/ Communication	3	1	2	1
TOTAL	10	7	8	8

 

 

 

 

 

Stage two - responding in time performance

 

	2021 - 2022	%*	2022 – 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 – 2025	%*
Within 25days	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
Within 65 days	0	-	0	-	0	-	1	13%
Over timescale	7	70%	7	100%	5	62%	6	75%
Not Pursued	1	10%		-	1	13%	0	-
Ongoing	2	20%	2	Over time- scale	2	25%	1	13%
TOTAL	10	--	9	--	8	--	8	--

 

Stage Two Outcomes

 

	2021 - 2022	%*	2022 – 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 – 2025	%*
Upheld	-	-	0	-	-	-	3	38%
Partially Upheld	4	40%	3	43%	3	37%	4	50%
Not Upheld	3	30%	2	29%	2	25%	0	-
Not Pursued	1	10%	0	-	1	13%	0	-
No response sent	-	-	0	-	-	-	0	-
Ongoing	2	20%	2	29%	2	25%	1	13
TOTAL	10		7		8		8

 

Where there are complaints showing as ongoing work will continue to be undertaken by the CGT to ensure they are responded to as soon as practicable.

 

17     Stage three complaints

 

There were 3 children’s stage three complaint, compared with 2 in the previous reporting period.

 

The process at stage three of the Children’s Social Care Complaints Procedure is an independent review panel that will consider whether the investigation, findings, and recommendations at stage two, were thorough, logical, and fair. The Panel then provides a report to the Corporate Director of Children and Education with their conclusions and any recommendations considered appropriate. The Corporate Director would then respond confirming whether they agree with the conclusions and any recommendations made.

 

Stage three - theme of complaint

 

	2021 -2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Attitude of staff	-	-	-
Disagree with Policy	-	-	-	1
Disagree with Assessment	-	-	-	1
Discrimination		-	-	-
Inappropriate Action	1	1	1	1
Lack of Action		2		-
Quality of Advice/ Communication	-	-	1	-
TOTAL	1	3	2	3

 

Stage three - responding in time performance

 

	2021 - 2022	%*	2022 - 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 – 2025	%*
Within 15 days	-	-	0	-	1	50%	1	33%
Over 15 days	-	-	3	100%	1	50%	2	66%
Not Pursued	1	100%	0	-	-	-	0	-
TOTAL	1	--	3	--	2	--	3	--

 

Stage Three Outcomes

 

	2021 - 2022		2022 - 2023	%*	2023 - 2024	%*	2024 – 2025	%*
Upheld	-	-	0	-	-	-	0	-
Partially Upheld	-	-	2	66%	2	100%	2	66%
Not Upheld	-	-	1	33%	-	-	1	33%
Not Pursued	1	100%	0	-	-	-	0	-
No response sent	-	-	0	-	-	-	0	-
TOTAL	1	--	3	--	2	--	3	--

 

18     Percentage escalation

 

The following table indicates how many complaints in children’s services were escalated through the stages. By measuring these figures as a percentage, we can gauge the implied customer satisfaction levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percentage escalation

 

	Number	% Escalated to next stage	% Implied customer satisfaction
Stage 1 to Stage 2	4 of 24	17%	83%
Stage 2 to Stage 3	3 of 8	38%	62%

 

It is important to note that whilst only a small number of complaints have escalated in this reporting period, the implied customer satisfaction needs to be considered alongside the next reporting period, particularly as 1 complaint remains ongoing.

 

19     Equalities monitoring information

 

Following the guidance produced by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, we must seek to identify who is making complaints to get a greater understanding of them. The following information was provided:

 

 Gender

	2021 - 2022	2022 -2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Male	14	16	13	11
Female	27	28	26	24
Male & Female	1	2	1	0
Total	42	46	40	35

 

20     Who made the complaints

 

Most complaints continue to be made by parents of children about the service they received from children’s services. However, 8 complaints were raised on behalf of a child, by an advocate.

 

To ensure that children are aware of and are supported to use the complaints and feedback procedure, the CGT worked closely with the Children’s Rights team and where appropriate, other support and advocacy services and others making a complaint on behalf of a child or young person.

 

The council has a statutory obligation to offer advocacy support to any child or young person making a complaint and the Children’s Rights team make people aware of the options available for raising comments, concerns, complaints, and compliments and provide advocacy support to assist with this where requested.

 

The CGT were also available were required to attend meetings with staff members, children, and young people, advocates, and foster carers to raise awareness of and understanding about how people can use the procedure.

 

An important aspect of ensuring that children are aware of the complaints and feedback procedure and how to access it, is ensuring that all staff receive refresher training. This is so staff have a clear understanding of when and how children and young people should be made aware of the procedure and their role in continuing to try to resolve concerns throughout the complaints process.

 

Five complaints refresher training sessions were provided to staff and managers in children’s services over the last year. However, it is important that the complaint team continue to deliver training direct to all members of staff in these areas, to ensure messages are delivered clearly and independently. Reminders continue to be sent to managers to ensure this can happen as a priority over the next reporting period.

 

It is however noted that normal practice would be for the complaints manager to attend regular managers meetings. This is to ensure there is a clear understanding of themes and lessons and that any issues relating to complaint handling can be quickly resolved. This has not happened in this reporting period and the CFC manager is collaborating with managers to resume these meetings for the coming reporting period.

 

21     Costs and payments

 

The council has an obligation to ensure independence in the children’s social care complaints procedure. This includes a requirement for:

·        A person independent of the council to oversee all complaints at stage two made by children and young people.

·        To ensure the investigator at stage two has not had any involvement in the complaint or line management responsibility for the services being complained about.

·        To have a panel of three independent people at stage three.

 

The costs for these services are shown in section 6 of this report.

 

In addition to this the council provides financial recompense if, after a complaint has been investigated or as part of an LGSCO’s investigation, it is concluded that:

·        the LGSCO would find that there has been maladministration by the council causing injustice to the complainant; and

·        the LGSCO would recommend that financial recompense should therefore be paid to the complainant.

 

For injustice caused by the failure to ensure appropriate attendance at school, to send copies of minutes promptly, follow the council’s own Practice Standards and had weak management oversight.	£600.00
Total	£600.00

 

 

 

22     Alternative dispute resolution

 

The Department for Education and Skills Guidance makes it clear that nothing in the procedure should preclude Alternative Dispute Resolution and if agreed by both the complainant and the CGOM, the council should explore this option.

 

Alternatives which may be considered by the CGOM include mediation, the opportunity to meet with senior managers, or the possibility of contributing to the review of policies and procedures.

 

23     Learning lessons/practice improvements

 

The council is always happy to consider appropriate ways of resolving a customer’s complaint. Some of the types of action the council has undertaken to resolve complaints have been issuing apologies, meeting with customers to hear their concerns and suggestions for improvements and putting these improvements into place. This has been particularly relevant in the case of communicating effectively with customers and putting strategies into place to ensure that people are kept up to date. The council also offers a re-assessment of needs where possible, to ensure that nothing has been missed or that circumstances have not changed.

 

Complaints provide senior managers with useful information in respect of the way that services are delivered. The consideration of complaints has included the agreement to undertake the following actions, in addition to apologies and financial recompense:

 

·        Reminders and updated guidance to staff.

·        Improved communication, including creation of templates, to be prepared and ready for enquires.

·        Development and provision of training and awareness sessions.

·        Update records and ensure the contain appropriate detail and accuracy.

·        Ensure reports include detail of all appropriate parties’ views and reasons for outcome of assessment of them.

·        Have clear written agreements about people’s needs and how they will be supported, including any adjustments for contact and communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adult Social Care

Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvements Report

April 2024 – March 2025

 

24     Context

 

This report provides information about complaints made during the twelve months between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 for adults under the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.

 

In addition, the numbers of compliments are also recorded were:

	2021 - 2022	2022 - 2023	2023- 2024	2024 - 2025
Be Independent	1	0	0
Commissioning & Contract Management	-	3	0	3
Community Provision	6	10	15	11
Assessment	-	0	0	0
Care Homes	-	0	0	0
Mental health Safeguarding & DOLS	18	12	5	10
Learning Disability	1	6	1	1
Older People	11	21	13	7

 

It is recognised there will be more compliments received than are shown in the table above. The importance of recognising, recording, and reporting compliments is being emphasised in the awareness training provided so that there is a completer and more balanced picture of customers’ experiences of the services they receive.

 

It is therefore disappointing that despite several requests for invites to provide training and attend managers meetings, we were only able to provide 3 awareness refresher sessions in adult services in this reporting period and did not receive invites to regular managers meetings.

 

In addition to this normal practice would be for the complaints manager to attend regular managers meetings. This is to ensure there is a clear understanding of themes and lessons and that any issues relating to complaint handling can be quickly resolved. This has not happened in this reporting period and the CFC manager is collaborating with managers to resume these meetings for the coming reporting period.

 

 

 

 

The compliments received included:

 

·        Staff member was a breath of fresh air and communication was great!

·        Thank you for exceptional professional, supportive and sensitive service we have received.

·        Staff member has been very kind and helpful and has gone over and above to help.

·        Helped me get my parent moved to a safe, lovely, and caring place in York.

·        Thank you for all your kindness the conversations were honest and you genuinely care.

·        Grateful for support of parent, they were happier than they had been in years.

·        Social worker was really calm and great worked so well with family member, making a stressful situation easier to navigate.

·        Very polite, down to earth and a lovely person. We all felt very much at ease during a difficult time for us as a family.

·        Kind considerate social worker, who has shown has a high standard of training and knowledge of dementia suffers.

·        Worker is the most personable and helpful social worker we have worked with to date and in our opinion an excellent ambassador for your department.

·        I was tremendously impressed with your attention to detail and your empathy. You are a credit to York Council.

·        Impressed with worker professionalism, they are diamonds.

·        The care provided has been really good and has eliminate all risks to wellbeing.

 

The legislation makes it clear that people should be able to provide feedback and have this responded to without this being seen as a complaint. Therefore concerns, comments and requests are also logged.

 

Number of Concerns, Comments and Requests received

 

	2021 - 2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Be Independent	-	-	-	-
Commissioning & Contract Management	-	-	-	1
Commissioning Provision	-	-	2	-
Joint Commissioning		-	-	-
Assessment	-		-	-
Care Homes	-	-	-	-
Community Provision	7	2	1	4
Mental health Safeguarding & DOLS	9	4	3	4
Learning Disability	1	6	1	-
Older People	5	3	6	4

 

25     Who can make a complaint

 

Someone who:

·        The local authority has a power or duty to provide or secure the provision of a social service for him/her and

·        His/her need for such a service has (by whatever means) come to the attention of the Authority.

 

This definition also applies to a person acting on behalf of someone who meets the above requirements.

 

A complaint can be made by a representative where the appropriate permission is received. A representative will also be able to make a complaint where the eligible person is not capable of making the complaint themselves, this includes when the eligible person is deceased.

 

The complaints manager will decide if a person is suitable to act as a representative. If it is decided they are not acting in the eligible person’s best interests, they will be informed in writing of the reasons for this.

 

If a customer is not eligible under the terms of the Act, they are able to raise it through the council’s 4Cs corporate complaints procedure.

 

26     Grading of complaints

 

The Department of Health designed the following tool to assess the seriousness of complaints and decide the relevant action:

 

Step 1: Decide how serious the issue is

 

Seriousness	Description
Low	Unsatisfactory service or experience not directly related to care. No impact or risk to provision of care. OR Unsatisfactory service or experience related to care, usually a single resolvable issue. Minimal impact and relative minimal risk to the provision of care or the service. No real risk of litigation.
Medium	Service or experience below reasonable expectations in several ways but not causing lasting problems. Has potential to impact on service provision. Some potential for litigation.
High	Significant issues regarding standards, quality of care and safeguarding of or denial of rights. Complaints with clear quality assurance or risk management issues that may cause lasting problems for the organisation and so require investigation. Possibility of litigation and adverse local publicity. OR Serious issues that may cause long-term damage, such as grossly substandard care, professional misconduct, or death. Will require immediate and in-depth investigation. May involve serious safety issues. A high probability of litigation and strong possibility of adverse national publicity.

 

Step 2: Decide how likely the issue is to recur

 

Likelihood	Description
Rare	Isolated or ‘one off’ – slight or vague connection to service provision.
Unlikely	Rare – unusual but may have happened before.
Possible	Happens from time to time – not frequently or regularly.
Likely	Will probably occur several times a year.
Almost certain	Recurring and frequent, predictable.

 

Step 3: How to categorise the risk

 

Seriousness	Likelihood of recurrence
	Rare	Unlikely	Possible	Likely	Almost Certain
Low	Low
		Moderate
Medium
			High
High				Extreme

 

The CGT grades the complaints as:

Low            = Green     - Can be resolved locally

Medium     = Amber     - Response from a director or assistant director.

High           = Red         - Response from a director or assistant director.

 

The C&F team contacts complainants to design a complaint plan and agree an appropriate response timescale. This is often done through an acknowledgment letter requesting the complainant to confirm the council’s understanding of the complaint and the timescale for response.

 

Following the response, a complainant can ask the LGSCO to investigate if they remain dissatisfied.

 

27     Activity

 

The CGT recorded 35 complaints under the adult social care procedure during this reporting period compared with a total of 44 the preceding year.

 

In addition to this there were 3 complaints made under the corporate procedure. 1 at grade 1 which was resolved without the need for an investigation.

 

The other 2 were consider at grade 2 with one upheld and one not upheld. One was dealt within 20 working days and the other over 20 working days.

 

28     Comparison with the preceding year

 

The figures show a small decrease in the number of complaints received in this reporting period compared with the preceding year through the adult social care procedures. However, this is consistent with an expected small fluctuation each year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

29     Outcomes of complaints:

 

	2021 - 2022	2022 -2023	2023 - 2024	2024 - 2025
Upheld	7	12	11	10
Partly upheld	13	13	7	4
Not upheld	17	11	11	8
Not proved	0	0	0	0
Not pursued	1	2	3	3
No response	4	1	7	1
Resolved without Investigation	0	0	5	4
Ongoing	0	1	0	0
Total	42	40	44	30

 

30     Response times

 

A key requirement of complaints procedures is the importance of informing service users of the outcome of their complaints, in an appropriate time.

 

The Department of Health guidance on deciding how long it should take to respond to a complaint states:

 

“If someone makes a complaint, your organisation has to acknowledge it within three working days. The person making the complaint will want to know what is being done – and when. However, accurately gauging how long an issue may take to resolve can be difficult, especially if it is a complex matter involving more than one person or organisation. To help judge how long a complaint might take to resolve, it is important to:

 

• address the concerns raised as quickly as possible

• stay in regular contact with whoever has complained to update them on progress

• stick to any agreements you make – and, if for any reason you can’t, explain why.

 

It is good practice to review any case lasting more than six months, to ensure everything is being done to resolve it.”

 

We are please the number of complaints which did not receive a response has reduced significantly. However, the complaints and feedback team will continue collaborate with managers to ensure all complaints receive a response.

 

 

Details of complaints

 

31     Green complaints

 

There were 25 complaints graded as Green compared to 33 in the preceding year and were categorised as follows:

 

Com Provision   = Community Provision

Commiss             = Commissioning

MH/S/DOLS        = Mental health Safeguarding & DOLS

LD                        = Learning Disability

OP                       = Older People

 

Green - theme of complaint

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Attitude of staff
Disagree with Policy	-	-	-	-	2	2
Disagree with Assessment	2	1	1	-	1	5
Discrimination
Inappropriate Action	1	-	-	1	1	3
Lack of Action	5	4	-	2	-	11
Quality of Advice/ Communication	-	-	-	2	2	4
TOTAL	8	5	1	5	6	25

 

Green - response times

 

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Within 10 days	4	1	-	2	1	8
Within 25 days	2	3	1	1	2	9
Over 25 days	2	1	-	1	1	5
Not Pursued	-	-	-	1	2	3
TOTAL	8	5	1	5	6	25

 

It is important to remember that the legislation and guidance for adults does not prescribe actual timescales for responses. However, we do manage and monitor performance in this area using best practice across the different complaints’ legislation and guidance. The above table highlights that we are responding to 80% of complaints within 25 working days at this grade.

 

It is noted that 1 complaint did not receive a response. This is something which will continue to be brought to the attention of senior managers to assist with improving this for future complaints.

Green = outcomes

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Upheld	3	1	1	2	2	9
Partially Upheld	1	-	-	-	-	1
Not Upheld	2	1	-	2	2	7
No Response	1	-	-	-	-	1
Resolved Without Investigation	1	3	-	-	-	4
Not Pursued	-	-	-	1	2	3
TOTAL	8	5	1	5	6	25

 

32     Amber complaints

There were 5 complaints graded as Amber in adult services compared to 6 in the previous year.

 

Amber - theme of complaint

 

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Attitude of staff	-	-	-	-	-	-
Disagree with Policy	-	-	-	-	-	-
Disagree with Assessment	-	-	-	1	-	1
Discrimination	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inappropriate Action	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lack of Action	1	-	-	-	-	1
Quality of Advice/ Communication	-	1	-	2	-	3
TOTAL	1	1	-	3	-	5

 

 

Amber - response times

 

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Within 25days	-	-	-	1	-	1
Within 65 days	1	1	-	2	-	4
TOTAL	1	1	-	3	-	5

 

Amber Outcomes

	Com Provision	MH/S/ DOLS	LD	Commiss	OP	Total
Upheld	1	-	-	-	-	1
Partially Upheld	-	1	-	2	-	3
Not Upheld	-	-	-	1	-	1
TOTAL	1	1	-	3	-	5

 

33     Red Complaints

 

There were 0 complaints graded Red compared to 5 in the preceding year.

 

34     Equalities monitoring information

 

Following the guidance and best practice, it is important to understand who is making complaints and so we seek to identify who is making complaints. Only the following information was provided:

 

Gender

Male:                             11

Female:                        19

 

35     Who made the complaints

 

Customers themselves made most complaints directly, however there were some made by family members supporting people using adult social care services and a small number via an advocate.

 

Following receipt of a complaint, acknowledgements are sent to ensure a clear understanding of the complaint points and outcomes wanted, before beginning an investigation. This acknowledgement also invites people to let us know if they would like any support, including things like advocacy, provision of information in their preferred accessible format.

 

 

 

 

36     Payments

 

The council provides financial recompense if, after a complaint has been investigated or as part of an LGSCO’s investigation, it is concluded that the LGSCO would find that there has been maladministration by the council causing injustice to the complainant with a recommendation that financial recompense should therefore be paid to the complainant.

 

Detail of payments made

 

LGSCO recommendation - For additional stress, anxiety and workload the council’s inactions and failure to review and manage the care package properly caused over a number of years. With a significant delay in resolving the Direct Payments budget.	£1,000.00
LGSCO recommendation - To recognise his distress caused by the Council’s failure to communicate effectively about the Direct payment.   To recognise his time and trouble spent on complaining.	£50.00       £50.00
LGSCO recommendation - For the frustration and distress caused by the delay in setting up a direct payment and poor communication.	£150
Total	£1,250.00

 

It is noted this is an increase from last year of £350.00 and all payments relate to issues around Direct Payments. Further action was also taken from an Ombudsman recommendation to:

 

Review the Direct Payment process and ensure the council provides a clear overview of the process, to include details on what information the council expects and approximate times for each part of the process.

 

37     Alternative dispute resolution

 

It is important to note that the complaints regulations and guidance for adult social care complaints are that a plan needs to be agreed between the complainant and the council about how the complaint will be dealt with and responded to, what outcomes are wanted and what can be realistically achieved.

 

Alternatives which may be considered include mediation, the opportunity to meet with senior managers, or the possibility of contributing to the review of policies and procedures.

 

38     Complaints dealt with by the local authority and NHS Bodies

 

The CFT works with contracted agencies and statutory agencies to identify the main themes concerned in a complaint. Informal agreements are in place to provide the customer with a co-ordinated response with the agency responsible for the provision of the main areas of complaint taking the lead with co-operation from the other agencies as required.

 

39     Learning lessons/practice improvements

 

The council is always happy to consider appropriate ways of resolving a customer’s complaint including meeting with customers to hear their concerns and suggestions for improvements and putting these improvements into place.

 

The council also offers a re-assessment of needs where possible, to ensure that nothing has been missed or that circumstances have not changed.

 

Complaints provide senior managers with useful information in respect of the way that services are delivered, so that improvements can be made. The CFT collaborated with teams across the council to ensure learning from complaints continued to lead to improvements in services and that evidence of completed actions was provided. Some of the actions which have been recorded include the following, in addition to apologies, review of support and financial recompense:

 

·        Review information provided about direct payments to give a clear overview and approximate times for each part of the process.

·        Reminder to staff to discuss financial circumstances as part of any formal reviews of individual support plans and to report any change to Income Services.

·        Developed and co-produced clear communication plans.

·        Review the Direct Payment process and ensure the council provides a clear overview of the process, to include details on what information the council expects and approximate times for each part of the process.

 

 40 Public Health

 

Complaints about services related to the functions of Public Health also fall under the legislation “Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009” and are therefore dealt with in the same way as those for adult social care services.

 

Compliments                                                     1

Complaints                                                        0

Comments & Concerns                                   0

 

It is possible all expressions of dissatisfaction about Public Health Services were able to be resolved before they became a complaint for the second year in a row. However, this is something which has been noted, and the CFC manager (CFCM) is meeting with managers in Public Health to provide awareness refresher training for staff, to ensure complaints and feedback is appropriately identified, recorded, and dealt with.

 

 

Corporate Services, Including Housing Services

Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvements Report

April 2024 – March 2025

 

41     Context

 

Where there is not a statutory complaints procedures, complaints about corporate services including housing services are dealt with through the council’s corporate complaints policy and procedure which can be found at Raise a comment, compliment, complaint or concern – City of York Council

 

There were 1132 complaints in this reporting period compared with 1391 in the preceding year. This is a decrease of 265 or 19.  This is consistent with an expected small fluctuation each year. However, it is considered a significant factor in this decrease is the change in the policy for green waste collections. This means crews will return for missed collections and bins lost or damaged during collection will be replaced free of charge, without a resident needing to make a complaint.

 

The number of comments logged were 332 compared to 642 in the preceding year.

 

It is noted there have been 11 complaints which did not receive a response in this reporting period, which although is a significant improvement from previous years, it is an increase on last year’s performance.

 

We are continuing to work to ensure every complaint is responded to. Those that did not receive a response in this reporting period remain ongoing and work will continue to provide a response, even though this will now be out of time.

 

All timescales contained within this report are for working days. It is also noted that in this reporting period there has been a significant increase in responses being provided out of the agreed timescale.

 

The CGT worked to keep people up to date when responses were delayed, although it is recognised this was not always possible.

 

It should however also be noted alongside the teams work in this period to move towards implementing the LGSCO complaint handling code, which will need to be implemented in full by 1 April 2026. This meant that more corporate complaints were being considered at stage 1 and then 2, rather than a previous grading process for all corporate complaints, except those under the jurisdiction of the HOS.

 

Although the timescales for the handling of corporate complaints will be reduced from April 2026 to 10 working days and 20 working days, it is expected the additional resource available through the moving of the complaints service to the Customer and Communities Directorate, will over time provide the ability to improve the complaints service further. Any improvement in timescales are however unlikely to be evident until the 2026 – 2027 reporting period.

 

In addition, to complaints, the numbers of compliments are also recorded, and these are shown below for the directorates as they were known during the reporting period.

 

Number of compliments received

Directorate	2021 – 2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024		2024 - 2025
Corporate Services	9	12	5	Governance	4
Customer & Communities	25	43	24	Housing and Communities	50
People	6	0	8	Education	9
Place	137	144	149	Environment, Transport & Planning	206
TOTAL	177	199	186		269

 

The compliments received included:

 

·        Gorgeous New kitchen fitted by great team of workers who were all marvellous hard working, clean and so professional.

·        Thank you for the hard work of the council for getting rewire and damp work done quickly.

·        Thanks to everyone involved in putting my house in order went above and beyond making our temporary move as easy as possible for which I am extremely grateful.

·        Staff member fair and consistent in her approach when managing some very challenging situations, she has gone above and beyond through the entire process when supporting my patient into a decant house while the work and repairs are carried out.

·        Housing repairs kept me updated with timescales and what was going on. I received texts and phone calls explaining what was been done on certain days so that I knew what stage the work was at.

·        A big thank you for the service they have received for an emergency leak.

·        Safety rails on staircase did a fantastic job deserves credit for the work.

·        Housing Management Officer (HMO) was great, showed lots of care an empathy.

·        Thank you to the housing management officer who is lovely, helpful and approachable.

·        Thank you for helping while I was at James House.

·        Thanks for all the help given during my time being homeless, at the time I didn’t know what to do but you helped me greatly.

·        Thank you for the help in finding accommodation when a family member was homeless.

·        Just to see how if the rails and things have been put in was brilliant. The staff member was absolutely lovely.

·        Help and support from the Refugee Resettlement Team was so appreciated and really helped.

·        Thank you for replacing the street sign.

·        Very pleased with new LED downlighting street lights on our street. A big improvement.

·        Appreciate the street light has been done and resolved.

·        Well done on the complete resurfacing of the road outside Morrisons, James Street. Good job.

·        Thanks for arranging the patch on blossom street.

·        The traffic warden at Monk Bar is always so helpful and friendly.

·        The chaps that cut the grass did a great job.

·        Thanks to staff for quick action to address overgrown tree.

·        Thanks for quick action from the crew to remove fallen tree branch.

·        Thank you to grass mowing team.

·        Just a note to say what a great job your men have done on the alley.

·        Really good job the street cleaners are doing.

·        I’d like to compliment the high standard of the work done to clean the alleyway. A very thorough job!

·        Well done with Hull Road park beck its much better rewilded. Today I saw a kingfisher fly along the line of the beck, then it perched for a while. Beautiful.

·        Staff from graffiti called this morning to have a look at the situation. Despite the issue being outside their normal remit they very kindly and professionally resolved the problem. We are extremely pleased with the service.

·        Street/gully cleaning just been completed. Really good job from the team concerned.

·        Thanks for the support, empathy and professionalism given to me by the Blue Badge Dept while I was recently completing my renewal application.

·        The Falls Prevention team was “absolutely fantastic,” and very, very happy with the service provided.

·        Thank you to NEO for getting the noise reduced.

·        The update restored our faith in the planning process and in local government.

·        Huge thankyou for communicating with the non council bin service to get the bin collected at a more sensible time.

·        The bin men who come to the village of wheldrake every other Monday do an absolutely outstanding job. I have experienced so much kindness and helpfulness from them.

·        Thanks to the waste crew for helping clear rubbish strewn everywhere.

·        Thanks to waste crew I was having a nightmare of a morning and ended up pulling my rear windscreen wiper off. Crew member came over and reattached it for me, saving me a job as I wouldn’t have known how to do it. Such lovely guys he was working with too.

·        Thanks to crews for stacking boxes after collection.

·        Thank you for making the medical collection so easy.

·        Thank you to the team who emptied our recycling boxes this morning. They worked hard, were very energetic about their tasks, left no spillage around, and we were impressed.

·        Chaps at Towthorpe HWRC were really helpful.

·        Thanks to the two guys working at Towthorpe Tip who helped me find my wedding ring.

·        Lady at the tip was extremely helpful.

·        Hazel Court staff were brilliant, really helpful and helped sort out which waste needed to go in which skip. They even helped taking items to the correct areas, making sure anything that could be recycled was.

·        Hazel Court the staff were great and helped unload items.

·        Parking team unbelievably helpful explaining the appeals process and making sure I had everything I needed to sort this issue out efficiently. I was never kept waiting on the phone more than a few minutes.

 

The good practice from the statutory processes is clear that people should be able to provide feedback and have this responded to without this being seen as a complaint. Therefore concerns, comments and requests are also recorded through the 4Cs corporate complaint policy and procedures, and these are shown below:

 

Number of Concerns, Comments and Requests

 

Directorate	2021 - 2022	2022 - 2023	2023 - 2024	Directorate	2024 - 2025
Corporate Services	58	28	24	Chief Operating Officer	1
Customer & Communities	203	104	60	Education	3
People	3	8	10	Environment, Transport & Planning	275
Place	1062	584	548	Finance	5
				Governance	12
				Housing and Communities	36
TOTAL	1326	724	642		332

 

 

 

42     Who can make a complaint

 

The council’s 4Cs corporate complaint policy and procedures states we will accept complaints from

·        a member of public or anyone acting on behalf of a customer with the proper authority and consent,

 

And using any of the following contact methods:

• in person

• by phone

• by letter

• by email

• through our website. www.york.gov.uk

 

43     Grading of complaints

 

The CGT assess the appropriate grade to investigate a complaint or to refer to the relevant Ombudsman, taking account of issues such as:

 

·        risk to the customer and the authority

·        severity of the risk

·        whether the issues in question are a one off, are a reoccurrence and likelihood of reoccurrence.

 

44     Response times

 

It is considered good practice that a key requirement of a complaint procedure is the importance of informing service users of the outcome of their complaints in an appropriate time. The timescales set out in the 4Cs corporate complaint policy and procedures are:

 

·        grade one - 20 working days (10 for housing complaints in line with the Housing Ombudsman Service guidance)

·        grade two - 30 working days (20 for housing complaints in line with the Housing Ombudsman Service guidance)

 

In addition to the above all complaints under the 4Cs corporate complaint policy and procedures were investigated and responded to by the CGT which means these were conducted independently and impartially.

 

 

Details of complaints

45     Grade one complaints

 

Primary theme by directorate

 

2023 -2024	Staff attitude	Disagree with assess - ment	Disagree with policy	Discrimination	Inapprop riate action	Lack of action	Quality of advice, communication/work	TOTAL
Corporate Services	-	-	1	-	1	1	-	3
Customer & Communities	-	2	9	-	19	13	6	49
People	-	-	-	-	2	5	-	7
Place	-	14	73	-	43	229	27	386
Total	-	16	83	-	65	248	33	445

 

2024 -2025	Staff attitude	Disagree with assess - ment	Disagree with policy	Discrimination	Inapprop riate action	Lack of action	Quality of advice, communication/work	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	-	2	-	-	1	9	-	12
Environment, Transport & Planning	1	21	129	-	32	321	20	524
Finance	-	9	7	-	14	27	7	64
Governance	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2
Housing & Communities	-	6	11	1	20	115	17	170
Total	1	38	147	1	67	473	45	772

 

Outcome by directorate

 

2023 -2024	Upheld	Not upheld	Partly upheld	Not pursued	No response	%*	Not proven	Resolved Without Investigation	TOTAL
Corporate Services	2	-	-	1	-		-		3
Customer & Communities	10	27	6	3	1		1	1	49
People	-	3	4	-	-	-	-	-	7
Place	187	98	73	18	4		4	2	386
Total	199	128	83	22	5		5	3	445

 

 

 

2024 -2025	Upheld	Not upheld	Partly upheld	Not pursued	No response	%*	Not proven	Resolved Without Investigation	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	5	4	-	-			-	3	12
Environment, Transport & Planning	214	163	45	37	5		-	60	524
Finance	12	41	4	1	1	2%	1	4	64
Governance	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	2
Housing & Communities	77	38	19	9	-	-	2	25	170
Total	308	247	68	47	6	-	3	93	772

 

 

%* are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number

 

Responding in time performance by directorate

 

2023 - 2024	In time	%*	Out of time	%*	Not pursued	%*	TOTAL
Corporate Service	1	33%	1	33%	1	33%	3
Customers & Communities	34	69%	14	29%	1	2%	49
People	3	43%	4	57%	-	-	7
Place	212	55%	156	40%	18	5%	386
Total	250	56%	175	39%	20	5%	445

 

2024 - 2025	In time	%*	Out of time	%*	Not pursued	%*	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	8	67%	4	33%	-	-	12
Environment, Transport & Planning	170	32%	317	60%	37	7%	524
Finance	34	53%	29	45%	1	2%	64
Governance	2	100%	-	-	-	-	2
Housing & Communities	59	35%	102	60%	9	5%	170
Total	273	35%	452	59%	47	6%	772

 

%* are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number

 

24 of the 29 out of time were completed within 30 working days.

 

46     Grade Two Complaints

Primary theme by directorate

 

2023 -2024	Staff attitude	Disagree with assess - ment	Disagree with policy	Discrimination	Inapprop riate action	Lack of action	Quality of advice, communication/work	TOTAL
Corporate Services	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	2
Customer & Communities	-	1	7	-	5	4	-	17
People	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	3
Place	-	26	601	1	141	140	15	924
Total	-	27	609	1	148	146	15	946

 

2024 -2025	Staff attitude	Disagree with assess - ment	Disagree with policy	Discrimination	Inapprop riate action	Lack of action	Quality of advice, communication/work	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	-	2	-	-	2	2	-	6
Environment, Transport & Planning	-	13	95	-	10	167	8	293
Finance	-	4	4	-	1	3	2	14
Governance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing & Communities	-	3	5	-	9	23	7	47
Total	-	22	104	-	22	195	17	360

 

Outcome by directorate

 

2023 - 2024	Upheld	Not upheld	Partly upheld	Not pursued	No response	%*	Not proven	Resolved Without Investigation	TOTAL
Corporate Services	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	2
Customer & Communities	3	11	3	-	-	-	-	-	17
People	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Place	757	102	33	24	5		1	2	924
Total	761	116	36	25	5		1	2	946

 

 

 

 

2024 -2025	Upheld	Not upheld	Partly upheld	Not pursued	No response	%*	Not proven	Resolved Without Investigation	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	1	3	1	1	-	-	-	-
Environment, Transport & Planning	206	49	16	7	7	2%	-	8	293
Finance	1	12	-	-	-	-	-	1	14
Governance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing & Communities	17	20	3	2	-	-	-	5	47
Total	225	84	20	10	7		-	14	360

 

Responding in time performance by directorate

 

2023 – 2024	In time	%*	Out of time	%*	Not pursued	%*	TOTAL
Corporate Service	1	50%	-	-	1	50%%	2
Customers & Communities	10	59%	7	41%	-	-	17
People	-	-	3	100%	-	-	3
Place	816		83		25		924
Total	827		93		26		946

 

2024 - 2025	In time	%*	Out of time	%*	Not pursued	%*	TOTAL
Chief Operating Officer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	-	0%	5	83%	1	17%	6
Environment, Transport & Planning	165	56%	121	41%	7	2%	293
Finance	1	7%	13	93%	-	-	14
Governance	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing & Communities	6	13%	39	83%	2	4%	47
Total	172	48%	178	49%	10	3%	360

 

%* are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number

 

 

47     Learning lessons/practice Improvements

 

The council is always happy to consider appropriate ways of resolving a customer’s complaint including meeting with customers to hear their concerns and suggestions for improvements and putting these improvements into place.

 

Most complaints logged at grade 2 as a disagreement with policy, are again about the current policy of advising residents that the council will not pay for a replacement bin, when they report their bin has been damaged or gone missing after being collected.

 

It is however noted there is a significant reduction in the complaints being recorded at grade 2 disagreeing with policy. It is considered this is in part due to the change in policy for replacement and missed collections relating to green waste, part way through this reporting period.

 

However, the ongoing waste services policy means that when grey, household bins are reported damaged or lost, residents will continue to be told they must pay for a replacement. This means residents either must pay for a replacement or make a complaint to reach an appropriate resolution.

 

This creates additional time and trouble for members of the public, or costs for those who feel unable or unwilling to make a complaint. This is in addition to the additional work needed by council officers to respond to and resolve the complaints.

 

Complaints provide senior managers with useful information in respect of the way that services are delivered, so that improvements can be made. The CGT is collaborating with teams across the council to ensure learning from complaints is leading to improvements in services and that evidence of actions being completed are provided.

 

Some of the actions taken by services in addition to apologies and financial recompense are:

 

·        Replacement waste containers, free of charge.

·        Crew reminders and monitoring.

·        Review of procedures.

·        Repairs completed.

·        Review of staff training and guidance.

·        Agreements about frequency of updates.

·        Refund of charges.

·        Updated public information to ensure it is clear, accurate and up to date.

·         Updated recording systems.

·        Review of processes to ensure that complaints and repair issues are properly logged and responded to.

·        Provide written information to residents.

 

As the council is committed to transparency and where there is no conflict or risk to the complainant’s interest or could compromise their anonymity, we have included the summary details of the LGSCO findings at Annex 1.

 

48     Payments

 

The council provides financial recompense if, after a complaint has been investigated or as part of an LGSCO’s or HOS investigation, it is concluded that the LGSCO or HOS would find that there has been maladministration by the council causing injustice to the complainant; and would recommend that financial recompense should therefore be paid to the complainant. The following table sets out the payments made during this reporting period which is reduction from the amount of £8638.00 last year.

 

 

Details of payments made

HSO Order – For delayed complaint stage 2 response	£50.00
HSO Order - in recognition of its handling of the resident’s reports of water ingress, damp, and mould.   In recognition of its poor complaint handling	£850.00     £250.00
LGSCO action - in recognition of failure to investigate a building control issue and delay in responding to the complaint and failure to keep in contact.	£150.00
Complaint action – standard of modernisation work.	£100.00
Complaint action – to recompense for damage to clothing because of delays in completing repairs.	£75.00
Complaint action – in recognition of the inconvenience, time trouble and upset from delays in responding to the complaint.	£200.00
Complaint action – in recognition of the inconvenience from delays completing repairs.	£50.00
Total	£1,725.00

 

49     Alternative dispute resolution

 

Based on the good practice guidance in the statutory complaints’ procedures, the council also considers whether there would be an appropriate alternative way of resolving complaints rather than completing an investigation.

 

Alternatives which may be considered include mediation, the opportunity to meet with senior managers, requests for service areas to action the outcomes being requested, where this is proportionate, or the possibility of contributing to the review of policies and procedures.

 

 

Annex 1

Cases received by the LGSCO Category Received Benefits & Tax 17/06/2024 Education & Children’s Services 05/04/2024 Housing 12/04/2024 Planning & Development 04/04/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 16/04/2024 Planning & Development 18/04/2024 Adult Care Services 12/04/2024 Adult Care Services 23/04/2024 Adult Care Services 18/06/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 20/06/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 26/06/2024 Highways & Transport 26/06/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 18/06/2024 Adult Care Services 15/07/2024 Adult Care Services 12/07/2024 Planning & Development 07/08/2024 Highways & Transport 30/07/2024 Adult Care Services 12/08/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 21/08/2024 Adult Care Services 27/08/2024 Highways & Transport 31/08/2024 Planning & Development 04/09/2024 Planning & Development 01/09/2024 Benefits & Tax 24/09/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 23/09/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 25/09/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 30/09/2024 Adult Care Services 01/10/2024 Housing 09/10/2024 Education & Childrens Services 03/10/2024 Planning & Development 22/10/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 24/10/2024 Housing 24/10/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 31/10/2024 Other 04/11/2024 Planning & Development 11/11/2024 Benefits & Tax 14/11/2024 Highways & Transport 07/01/2025 Highways & Transport 02/12/2024 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 13/01/2025 Housing 17/01/2025 Adult Care Services 21/01/2025 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 23/01/2025 Corporate & Other Services 10/02/2025 Housing 03/03/2025 Adult Care Services 05/03/2025 Adult Care Services 17/03/2025 Benefits & Tax 25/03/2025 Corporate & Other Services 20/03/2025 Corporate & Other Services 21/03/2025 Benefits & Tax 26/03/2025 Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation 27/03/2025 Benefits & Tax 27/03/2025

 

Cases decided by the LGSCO

 

Abbreviations

Mal – maladministration

Inj – injustice

PA – person affected (customer/complainant)

Rep – representative for the PA

 

Category	Decided	Decision	Decision Reason	Remedy
Housing	29/04/2024	Not Upheld	no fault
Adult Care Services	18/06/2024	Upheld	fault & inj	Apology, Provide training and/or guidance
Education & Childrens Services	15/10/2024	Upheld	fault & inj	Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble
Adult Care Services	27/06/2024	Upheld	fault & inj	Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, Provide training and/or guidance, Procedure or policy change/review
Corporate & Other Services	11/04/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged injustice
Housing	05/06/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Benefits & Tax	18/06/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	26(6)(a) tribunal Other
Education & Childrens Services	16/05/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - referred to Organisation
Education & Childrens Services	09/09/2024	Not Upheld	no fault
Benefits & Tax	11/04/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Adult Care Services	18/04/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Other reason not to investigate
Adult Care Services	12/02/2025	Upheld	fault & inj	Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, Financial Redress: Quantifiable Loss, Provide services to person affected
Planning & Development	12/04/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Housing	17/06/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	At request of complainant
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	09/05/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Sch 5.5A/5.5B Social housing landlord
Planning & Development	09/05/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	No worthwhile outcome achievable by investigation
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	16/04/2024	Incomplete/Invalid	Insufficient information to proceed and PA advised
Planning & Development	05/06/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	S26(1) Not an admin function of authority
Adult Care Services	22/05/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Adult Care Services	26/03/2025	Upheld	fault & inj	Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, provide services/information to others affected
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	20/06/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	26/06/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Highways & Transport	21/08/2024	Upheld	Injustice remedied during LGO consideration	Provide services to person affected
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	04/07/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	26(6)(c) Court remedy
Adult Care Services	08/11/2024	Not Upheld	At request of complainant
Adult Care Services	12/07/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Planning & Development	07/08/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Highways & Transport	17/09/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Other Agency better placed
Adult Care Services	04/02/2025	Closed after initial enquiries	Other reason not to investigate
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	21/08/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Adult Care Services	04/11/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Highways & Transport	15/10/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged injustice
Planning & Development	29/10/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged injustice
Planning & Development	11/03/2025	Upheld	fault & inj	Apology, Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble, New appeal/review or reconsidered decision
Benefits & Tax	22/10/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	28/11/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - referred to Organisation
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	04/12/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	No worthwhile outcome achievable by investigation
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	06/11/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Adult Care Services	01/10/2024	Incomplete/Invalid	Insufficient information to proceed and PA advised
Housing	09/10/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Planning & Development	18/12/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged injustice
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	24/10/2024	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Housing	24/10/2024	Incomplete/Invalid	Insufficient information to proceed and PA advised
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	16/12/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged injustice
Other	04/11/2024	Incomplete/Invalid	Insufficient information to proceed and PA advised
Benefits & Tax	09/12/2024	Closed after initial enquiries	26(6)(a) tribunal Other
Highways & Transport	21/02/2025	Closed after initial enquiries	Not warranted by alleged fault
Housing	17/01/2025	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	23/01/2025	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given
Benefits & Tax	27/03/2025	Referred back for local resolution	Premature Decision - advice given

 

 

Compliance with Agreed Remedies

 

Category	Decided	Remedy	Remedy Target Date	Remedy Achieved Date	Satisfaction with Compliance
Education & Childrens Services	27/02/2024	Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble New appeal/review or reconsidered decision Provide training and/or guidance	23/04/2024	17/04/2024	Remedy complete and satisfied
Adult Care Services	17/06/2024	Apology Provide training and/or guidance	18/07/2024	16/07/2024	Remedy complete and satisfied
Environmental Services & Public Protection & Regulation	05/03/2024	Apology Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble Provide services to person affected Procedure or policy change/review	05/06/2024	17/06/2024	Remedy complete and satisfied
Education & Childrens Services	14/10/2024	Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble	12/11/2024	12/11/2024	Remedy complete and satisfied
Adult Care Services	26/06/2024	Apology Financial redress: Avoidable distress/time and trouble Provide training and/or guidance Procedure or policy change/review	27/09/2024	26/09/2024	Remedy complete and satisfied
Highways & Transport	20/08/2024	Provide services to person affected	21/08/2024	20/08/2024	Remedy completed late