Agenda and minutes

It was moved by Councillor Wallace, seconded by Councillor Rooney and

RESOLVED – the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2015 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

No interests were declared at this stage.

Report of the Monitoring Officer providing an annual update on corporate complaints.

Members received a report which provided an update on complaints received under the corporate complaints process during 2014/15. It was noted that, whilst the overall number of complaints received was increasing, this was in line with the national trend. During discussion and in response to questions asked, the following points were noted:

·         ‘other’ in paragraph 3.10 included those for which the outcome was not recorded, resolved by other means or were neither clearly upheld, not upheld nor upheld in part. It was agreed that this category be reworded to ‘resolved by other means’

·         The types of complaints which were generally not upheld related to personal circumstances with which a customer wasn’t happy, for example a benefits ruling or a planning application

·         The Local Government Ombudsman matter referred to under paragraph 3.14 which was upheld in part related to a complex planning matter and, whilst no fault had been found on the part of the council, the authority had been criticised for the length of time taken to deal with an ongoing issue.

Further information or clarification was requested with regard to whether there had been a change in numbers of complaints about the Revenues & Benefits service since the partnership had been formed (in relation to the overall increase in complaints) and whether any other area had seen an disproportionate increase. It was agreed that this information would be collated and sent out to members after the meeting.

Councillor Surtees arrived at 10.46am.

It was moved by Councillor Witherford, seconded by Councillor Cartwright and

RESOLVED – the report be noted and requested information be sent to members following the meeting.

To update members on the future of the panel.

Members were provided with an update about the Local Joint and Safety Panel which was a joint consultative panel between management and the Unions and also constituted the authority’s statutory Safety Panel. The group had not met for over a year and had not referred anything to the Ethical Government and Personnel Committee since its inception.

It was noted that, over recent years, engagement with the Unions had been achieved more effectively via other means, including regular meetings with the Human Resources manager and quarterly meetings with the Strategic Leadership Board. A management safety group was being set up which could act as the council’s statutory Safety Panel. The minutes of this group would be a standing agenda item for the Ethical Governance & Personnel Committee. Furthermore, should management and Unions fail to agree on a matter, it would be escalated to the Ethical Governance & Personnel Committee for its consideration and decision.

It was therefore suggested that the Local Joint and Safety Panel be disbanded, and it was reported that this had been put to the representatives of Unison, who had agreed to consider the suggestion.

Members supported the suggestion to disband the Local Joint and Safety Panel but asked for assurances that there would be a means of capturing concerns from all partners regarding safety issues in the Hub. It was stated that there was a Hub protocol and meetings were held with partners, but it was agreed that this would be taken back to management.