Complaint Statistics 2023/24

Inverclyde Council – Complaint Handling Performance Statistics

Covering Quarter 1 - 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023

Key Performance Indicators	Quarter 1 - 1 April - 30 June 2023
Number of complaints received	67
Number of complaints closed	59
Stage 1 Complaints Closed	42
Stage 2 Complaints Closed	14
Escalated Stage 2 Complaints Closed	3
Stage 1 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	7 12 7 16
Stage 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 2 4 8
Escalated 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 0 1 2

Lessons learned and good practice arising from complaints responded to:

From the complaints responded to during the quarter some lessons have been learned and some good practice has been noted and shared with relevant staff members within specific Services.A small sample of feedback has been collated that reflects the actions taken by the Council and support our commitment to learn from complaints that we receive. These will be for service areas to implement.

Service	Nature of complaint	Good practice and learning from complaints
Public Protection	Complaints were raised by a local resident that lives near Kirn Drive. On spare ground owned by the Council individuals have been riding quad bikes which is making a lot of noise affecting those who live closest to the site.	The Service are looking into the feasibility of fencing /gates at Kirn Drive to restrict access to vehicles. Physical barriers would be more beneficial than patrols being undertaken by Community Wardens for this issue. The matter will be subject to formal process on consultation with elected members.
Corporate Communications	A complaint was received from an individual who is disabled and had planned a visit at the Pipe Bands Competition, however they encountered issues with finding suitable parking on the day.	The feedback from the service user’s experience will be used in the assessment of future events of this nature for 2024 to address and improve the accessibility.

Inverclyde Council – Complaint handling performance statistics

Covering Quarter 2 - 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023

Key Performance Indicators	1 July -30 September 2023
Number of complaints received	91
Number of complaints closed	85
Stage 1 Complaints Closed	61
Stage 2 Complaints Closed	21
Escalated Stage 2 Complaints Closed	3
Stage 1 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	6 22 8 25
Stage 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 4 7 10
Escalated 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes
Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 1 2 0

Lessons learned and good practice arising from complaints responded to:

From the complaints responded to during the quarter some lessons have been learned and some good practice has been noted and shared with relevant staff members with specific Services.A small sample of feedback has been collated that reflects the actions taken by the Council and support our commitment to learn from complaints that we receive. These will be for service areas to implement.

Nature of complaint

Good practice and learning from complaints

Environmental Services

A complaint was received from a service user as a service request for a tree to be cut back had not been actioned they were unhappy with the lack of action taken. The service request had been sent directly to the area supervisor within the service and due to an administration error, the request had not been allocated to the Arbor Officer until we had received the complaint.

The service reviewed their process,

and they will ensure that all tree enquiries

are allocated directly to the Arbor Officer

for investigation, if possible, not the area supervisor.

This should reduce the risk of delay in the actions being

carried out timely.

Roads

A complaint was received following a service request raised by a resident for a white line to be painted across their driveway.This is a type of service request involves a fee for the work to be carried out by a contractor. The request was raised by the resident as they are having issues with an individual parking across their drive.The service user made weekly calls for updates on the completion of the works. As it has been over two months since the payment was taken the service user feels that it has taken too long for the Roads Service to action.

The service have established that insufficient

information had been shared with the service user

following agreement to carry out the line marking

on the timescales and considerations that need to

be allowed for this service request. This resulted in

increased expectations of the service user on when

the work would be completed. The Service will ensure

that service users are made aware of the indicative

timescales involved for this type of service request.

On agreeing the works they will explain when contractors

are carrying out the works and possible considerations

such as weather dependencies and driving conventions

occurring that can affect the completion of work to

manage the expectations of service users effectively.

Inverclyde Council – Complaint Handling Performance Statistics

Covering Quarter 3 - 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023

Key Performance Indicators	Quarter 3 – 1 October to 31 December 2022
Number of complaints received	61
Number of complaints closed	60
Stage 1 Complaints Closed	42
Stage 2 Complaints Closed	17
Escalated Stage 2 Complaints Closed	1
Stage 1 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	11 15 6 10
Stage 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	2 2 2 11
Escalated 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 0 0 1

Quarter 3 Complaints Good practice and learning from complaints

Service Area	Nature of complaint	Good practice and learning from complaints
Environmental Services	A complaint was received about issues that arose with parking at the crematorium. The congestion built up due to two large, attended funerals and the protocol for disabled parking permissions were affected due to the number of individuals using the parking areas.	The Service have agreed a review of contingency planning to take account of scenarios that arose. This will look at provisions for parking availability and for disabled attendees, funerals that overrun, arrival times prior to funeral, potential waiting area with disabled seating allocation and any other potential improvements to the blue badge parking at the area.
Education Service	A complaint was received from a parent about the bus driver’s word choice when speaking to a child travelling home from school.	The children were moving about the bus when they should have been seated. The driver acknowledged that he spoke loudly, and he could have used better terms when trying to alert the children to sit in their seats for their safety. He did not act unprofessionally although could have managed the situation differently.
Finance Service	A complaint was made by a customer who was dissatisfied that their address information had not been updated timely on the Council Tax systems. The customer was in constant contact with the service to have the account updated correctly despite providing all the correct information at the outset this did not happen timely.	A staff member did not accurately record the latest information from the documentation which had been received from the customer. This resulted in a delay in the account being updated to reflect the new address. Reminders have been issued to staff on the importance of checking all documentation that they receive when updating accounts to reflect a change in address to ensure there is no oversight in the updating of key information.

Inverclyde Council – Complaint Handling Performance Statistics

Covering Quarter 4 - 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024

Key Performance Indicators	Quarter 4 - 1 January to 31 March 2024
Number of complaints received	83
Number of complaints closed	79
Stage 1 Complaints Closed	48
Stage 2 Complaints Closed	29
Escalated Stage 2 Complaints Closed	2
Stage 1 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	4 12 9 23
Stage 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 4 8 17
Escalated 2 Complaint investigation Outcomes Number of complaints resolved Number of complaints upheld Number of complaints partially upheld Number of complaints not upheld	0 2 0 0

Lessons learned and good practice arising from complaints responded to:

From the complaints responded to during the quarter lessons have been learned and some good practice has been noted and shared with relevant staff members within specific Services. A small sample of feedback has been collated that reflects the actions taken by the Council and support our commitment to learn from complaints that we receive. These will be for service areas to implement.

Service	Nature of complaint	Good practice and learning from complaints
Environmental Service	A number of complaints were received about delays with the first collection garden waste where service users purchased a permit and delays with permits being received in time for the first collection.	Considering the collective feedback that was found in the complaints received the service are considering a change in process which will see them considering emptying all presented brown bins for the first uplifts of the season.
Environmental Service	The customer raised a complaint as upon reviewing the website for information about the garden waste permit she found contradictory information to what she had been advised on the telephone.	A change to the website is necessary for out of season garden waste collection to make sure the link to permit change is removed. Information will be provided on the website to explain when permits will go on sale when yearly permit price is known.The wording of the garden waste email auto reply requires to be reviewed in line with the change.
Legal, Democratic, Digital & Customer Services	A service user who submitted a SAR and had subsequently sent in their identification to the Council using the published email address.A complaint was raised shortly after to complain about the delay with processing the Subject Access Request. This highlighted an issue as the email appeared to have not been received.	An issue was found in the process which results in some emails not being received as there is a routing in place within the Customer Relationship Management system. An investigation was carried out and ICT change to the internal process was necessary to route the emails correctly to the customer relationship management system used to process Subject Access Requests. The process should be remedied by August 2024.

Page last updated: 6 September 2024