Each Service Area logs all complaints and compliments, no matter how they are received, to help us identify and address any issues that are regularly resulting in customer dissatisfaction.

The analysis attached with this report (Appendix 1) is based on the information received from each Service Area for the period 1^st April 2006 - 31^st March 2007.

The number of reported complaints received by the Council during 2006/07 is 557, compared with 441 during 2005/06. Although this is an increase from last year, it should be noted that as agreed due to the introduction of the three stream waste collection and the high level customer contact, figures would be collected from October 2005 onwards.

The majority of complaints are being received through the Contact Centre (34%), which is different from the previous trend of writing a letter being the most popular way to complain. Letters (20%) and email (21%) continue to remain the common methods of complaining to the Council.

The category “Quality of service” attracted the most complaints this year, which is 72% of the total logged.

Response times are well within their time limits with very few going beyond the 15 days.

Significantly, the majority of complaints (97%) are resolved at Stage 1 (frontline staff) with very few being escalated to the Service Manager or Chief Executive.

Operational Services have received the highest number of complaints this year due to the nature of the services provided and account for 74% of the complaints received.

The Service Areas with no complaints reported over the year are Chief Executive Policy Unit, Financial Services and Property Services.

The Council received 90 compliments during 2006/07, which is a great increase from last year when we received 45.

It is pleasing to note that despite Operational Services attracting the most complaints, this Service Area also received the most compliments.

The following corrective actions have been put into place during 2006/07 to ensure the effective and efficient resolving of various complaints received and attempt to avoid further complaints being made.

Democratic and Legal Services - a number of complaints were received regarding two taxi companies, and this was resolved by the Taxi Licensing Officer contacting these companies and complainants in order to resolve the communication breakdown.

Parks and Outdoor Recreation - some issues were raised regarding playground equipment which needed fixing. This was responded to quickly due to the Park Keeper Service, which means any problems found within the Parks are dealt with immediately.

Despite our best efforts, some of our customers have felt the need to contact the Local Government Ombudsman in order to resolve their complaint.

This year (2006/07), the Ombudsman received 34 complaints from Pendle residents relating to a number of Service Areas. This has increased compared with the 26 that were received in 2005/06 and the 24 that were received in 2004/05.

The breakdown is as follows:

Out of the 34 complaints where a decision has been reached, 13 were classed as “premature” - that is where the complainant has not allowed the Council an opportunity to deal with it in the first instance.

A breakdown of the remaining 21 is as follows:

The Ombudsman was satisfied with the way the Council dealt with the complaints it had received, and the complaints which were investigated have highlighted no issues and given no cause for concern.

It was pleasing to note that the Council met its target of responding to the Ombudsman enquiries within 28 days, responding on average in just 21.5 days. This is a positive improvement from last year's performance when it was 32 days.

Refer to the Corporate Complaints Policy.

None.

None.

None.

None.

There are no significant trends during this year. Most complaints were received via the Contact Centre, and email is increasingly being used by the public to complain to the Council.

The majority of complaints continue to be resolved effectively and efficiently at Stage 1 (officer level) within 15 working days. Only a very small number progress to Stages 2 and 3 and exceed the 15 day timeframe.

It is apparent that some Service Areas are open to a high number of complaints due to the nature of the services provided (e.g. Operational Services and Parks and Outdoor Recreation) and not necessarily due to the quality of service provided.