Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU. View directions

Contact: Christine Rothwell  Tel. 01302 735682

Items
No. Item

5.

Apologies for absence.

6.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no items.

7.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

8.

Public Statements.

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up

to 5 members of the public on matters within the

Committee’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be

considered or contribute towards the future development of

the Committee’s work programme].

 

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

9.

Complaints and Compliments Annual Report 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 318 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Corporate Services submitted a report summarising the Annual Complaints and Compliments Report for 2019/20 for Doncaster Council and it’s partners.  Members noted that overall analysis evidenced that the number of complaints received for the Local Authority and it’s partners were 2552, a reduction on previous years.  The key improvements resulting from feedback were set out in the report.

 

The following areas were addressed by the Committee:

 

Social Work Practice – in response to an example provided by a Councillor, relating to learning from customer feedback about individual practices, it was outlined that the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust (DCST) provided it’s own complaints report, which fed into the Local Authority’s.  Within the DCST’s response to social work complaints, it had focused training on how Social Workers interact with clients.  It was noted that a lot of time and effort was put into listening to members of the public and ensuring the correct remedial actions and service improvements were developed. 

 

Improving access for people to make a complaint or complimentThe Committee noted that the Customer Experience Team attended Management meetings and work with staff who deal with customer complaints and complaint trends to both improve how compliments and complaints could be made, and also how services could respond.  This was an ongoing process.

 

It was stressed that the Local Authority and partners provided many services and sometimes they could not provide specific individual requests by residents and therefore it was imperative that how this was relayed was essential.

 

Members recognised that the corporate response target for any complaint was 10 days, however in the emerging modern world, residents expected a response to more simpler enquires as quickly as possible. 

 

Waste and Recycling Service - A Councillor outlined that from her ward perspective residents were much happier with the Waste and Recycling service currently being provided.

 

Doncaster Cultural Leisure Trust (DCLT) – A Member raised concern that hygiene and cleanliness at the Dome was an area that had attracted many complaints and noted this was being addressed.

 

In response to concerns relating to the complaints process, it was noted that the organisation’s compliment and complaints reporting mechanism was not yet in line with, or mirrored systems used by the Local Authority’s and it’s Partners. It was acknowledged that the Local Authority was working closely with the organisation to provide a consistent level and approach.

 

It was recognised that over the last three years work had been undertaken with all other service delivery partners to ensure there was a consistent approach to complaints.

Councillors Enquiries – In response to a Member query relating to whether complaints about services made by a Councillor and enforcement breaches, were included within this report, it was explained that Councillor enquiries were dealt with separately and if not rectified a formal complaint could be made and addressed through the corporate complaints process.  However, it was stressed that any poor service issues raised by a Councillor should be addressed in the correct  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 704 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Panel reported that the Panel had recently met and held a very successful discussion relating to public health with the remainder of the work plan progressing well.

With regard to the Communities and Environment Scrutiny Panel the Chair outlined that Members were due to give consideration to the Environmental Strategy, Flooding that had occurred across the Borough in 2019 and Domestic Abuse.

The Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel Chair explained that the work plan was progressing well with recommendations following meetings being forwarded to the Executive.

Following this meeting the Regeneration and Housing Panel would be addressing the Housing Strategy and Housing Delivery Plan then the following week the Economic Impact arising from the Covid – 19 pandemic.

A Member drew attention to the statement that had been made by the Union representative relating to agency staff but the Chair stressed that agency spend had been looked at previously by the Committee and the issue would not be discussed further at this meeting.

RESOLVED:-that progress with the Scrutiny work plan, be noted.