Agenda item

Report to follow

Consideration was given to a report of the Complaints Manager which sought to inform of the Council performance in relation to enquiries received from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).

The author of the report and the Assistant Director of Finance attended the meeting to present the report and to address the enquiries of the Committee.

It was explained that there had been some recent changes to how the LGO reported upheld cases, with the view to make the decisions more understandable for users and other stakeholders and to ensure that only cases that had been passed forward for an investigation, following the assessment stage, were upheld. Since 2014, the LGO had also publically reported on Local Authority complaints performance.

The number of LGO enquiries and Oldham Council complaints for 2017/18 were outlined: 1,261 complaints had been raised, 62 of these had been referred to the LGO by the complainants and eight cases had been formally investigated by the LGO. Six cases had been upheld and two not upheld. Oldham ranked as the third lowest local authority in Greater Manchester for complaints reviewed by the LGO. 

In relation to the figures reported, it was explained that a low percentage of upheld complaints, indicated that the Council gave a robust consideration to the issues raised at local level. It was also highlighted that the LGO applied great attention to learning from complaints. This approach was shared by Oldham Council through its process to manage and resolve complaints. It was added that the LGO was keen to see that scrutiny members take an active role in considering the annual report.

Members sought and received clarification / commented on the following points:

-       Changes to processes following a complaint – It was explained that, virtually, every case in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services would result in a change of how services were delivered; corporate complaints were less complex but the numbers were generally higher. A large amount of work took place with the LGO on these elements; they would make recommendations and many changes would take place.

-       Financial cost to the Council when the LGO upheld a complaint – It was explained that this year the cost was very low. There had been two cases without financial recommendations. Ordinarily, there were no remedies of a financial nature and the LGO required an apology from the Local Authority to the complainant and/or a statement concerning the lesson learnt from each matter that was addressed.

-       Signposting to the LGO – It was explained that Oldham Council operated a process that aimed to work closer with the complainants. If the Council position had been fair and reasonable but the complainant was still not satisfied, a referral would be made to the LGO. Other local authorities still used a two stage process.

The Chair of the Board pointed out that the LGO had declined the invite to attend the meeting this evening. It was explained that the annual review produced by the LGO was still very fresh and it contained several statistics and other information.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.