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Agenda item

INFORMATION NOTE: FULL YEAR PERFORMANCE UPDATE ON 3C'S 25/26

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE CUSTOMER & DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER

 

This information note is to provide an update on the full year (25/26) performance regarding the Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) for the Council and the contractors that provide services on the Council’s behalf. This briefing note accompanies the 3C’s dashboard at Appendix A, and the breakdown of 3C’s by service and type at Appendix B.

Decision:

Councillor Sean Nolan, as Executive Member for Customers, presented the Information Note entitled ‘Full Year Update on Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) 25/26’, following which Members asked questions.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 05 minutes 58 seconds

 

Councillor Sean Nolan, as Executive Member for Customers, presented the Information Note entitled ‘Full Year Update on Comments, Compliments and Complaints (3C’s) 25/26’ and advised that:

 

·             Overall comments had decreased compared to the previous year. 

·             Complaints received by the Council and their contractors and details of this were shown at paragraphs 3.5 – 3.7 in the information note.

·             The percentage of interactions resulting in a complaint was below 1%.

·             82% of stage 2 complaints had been resolved within 10 days, which met the 80% target.

·             Only 15 stage 2 complaints had been deemed as justified, and they had been related to waste.

·             Leisure Centre comments, compliments and complaints had dropped 50% compared to the previous year, and had returned to a consistent level since the contract change.

·             The Local Government Ombudsman had received 6 complaints over the year as detailed at paragraph 3.12, but none of these had been upheld.

·             The Council and their contractors had received 202 compliments as seen in Appendix B to the report.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·             Councillor Daniel Wright-Mason

·             Councillor Claire Winchester

·             Councillor Ralph Muncer

·             Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·             Councillor Paul Ward

·             Councillor Martin Prescott

·             Councillor Sadie Billing

 

In response to questions, the Customer and Digital Services Manager advised that:

 

·             Justified complaints had been higher on the year due to the waste contract change, and staffing issues in the Waste Team around that time.

·             Problems experienced with key staff leaving the Waste Team had been resolved.

·             The leisure contractor followed timescales used by the Council for complaints, and they provided their complaint data to the Council at the end of each period.

·             Auditing on complaint data from the leisure contractor was not currently done, but this could be raised with the Leisure Team to see if it could be implemented.

·             Baseline complaint data had been provided by the previous waste contractor before the customer service element of the contract had been transferred to the Council.

·             Contacts were monitored both day-to-day and monthly so peaks and troughs could be identified.

·             Since the garden waste resubscription period and the waste contract change, complaints had dropped to a stable level. 

·             Complaints and service requests were distinguished appropriately and captured well by Customer Service Centre (CSC) staff, but data would be provided on this if it was available.

·             A drop in complaints received by the waste contractor since the contract change had occurred as complaints now came directly to the Council, unlike the last contract.

·             Most complaints were still dealt with by the leisure centre operators as seen in Appendix B to the report.

·             Figures related to waste indicated that they were at a normal level currently.

·             AI had been deployed on CSC telephone lines to answer basic enquiries, but officers were available to handle more complex enquiries and complaints.

·             There were no plans to replace CSC officers with AI as it was a supporting tool.

·             Appendix B to the report detailed the number of compliments, but they would be happy to share specifics.

·             There were no specific examples of complaints turning into compliments, but the CSC Team prided themselves on their customer service skills.

 

The Chair advised that data related to Key Performance Indicators relating to waste and customer service were available to view on Ideagen.

 

Councillors Ralph Muncer and Martin Prescott put on record their thanks to the Shared Service Manager – Waste and the Senior Contracts Officer for their help during the waste contract change.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Nolan and the Customer and Digital Services Manager for their presentation.

Supporting documents: