BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET

APPENDIX 1

Social and Housing Services

Complaints and Representations Procedure

Annual Report 2005 - 2006

1. Summary

1.1 This report concerns the operation of the Complaints and Representations Procedure in Social and Housing Services during the financial year 2005 - 2006.

1.2 Between April 2005 and March 2006 a total of 58 complaints were registered at Stages 1, 2 or 3 of the procedure or with the Ombudsman. A further 12 complaints were received but these were either withdrawn or were deemed to fall outside the scope of the procedure.

1.3 During the year 43 positive comments or compliments were registered.

2. Introduction

2.1 The objective of the Complaints and Representations Procedure is to address individual concerns about the delivery, quality and appropriateness of services. The data should not be relied on to provide a sole indicator of the quality of service by any part of the Council however it can highlight specific problems at particular times and give a guide to remedial action.

2.2. Complaints also provide important information for the continual improvement of services based upon the expectations of service users. The increasing `customer focus' of services is demonstrated by the mechanisms being developed to gauge customer satisfaction and the involvement of service users in the planning of individual services.

2.3 The Complaints and Representations Procedure was introduced on 1st April 1996. The Procedure is based upon the requirements of the Children Act 1989, the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 (as amended).

The procedure provides a three stage process for the resolution and investigation of complaints.

Stage One - Problem Solving.

At the first stage of the procedure, the manager of the section or service unit that is the subject of the complaint will normally respond to the complaint. The Procedure requires that complaints are formally acknowledged within five working days.

The objective of the service manager is to resolve the complaint if possible through discussion, mediation and by taking any appropriate remedial action. This stage of the procedure should be completed within twenty working days.

Stage Two - Formal Investigation

If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the outcome of the first stage, they can request a formal investigation of the complaint. Under this stage, an officer from outside the relevant service area investigates the complaint. The investigating officer presents a short report to the Head of Service including their findings and recommendations. The Head of Service will then respond to the complainant. This stage of the procedure should be completed within 23 working days.

Stage Three - Review Panel

If the complainant remains dissatisfied, they can request that a panel review their case. The panel will normally consist of three independent persons, one of whom chairs the panel (see below). The panel will make recommendations to the Strategic Director. If appropriate, the Strategic Director will consult the Executive Member for Social Services or Housing and Supported Living before reaching a final decision on the complaint. This stage should be completed within thirty working days.

Corporate Complaints Procedure

In some cases the complaint is not eligible under the statutory procedure, but can be dealt with under the Corporate Procedure. For example, a complaint from a parent or carer of a young person about the way in which they have been treated by a member of staff would be dealt with under the Corporate Complaint Procedure.

The figures in this report, however, do not differentiate between complaints under the statutory procedure and the Corporate Procedure.

2.4 Independent Persons

Independent persons are an important feature of the complaints procedure. They participate in the consideration of complaints in two ways:

i. Where a complaint is made by, or is concerning, a child or young person under the Children Act 1989, an Independent Person must be appointed at the second stage of the procedure. To ensure fairness and objectivity, the Independent Person will participate in the planning and conduct of the investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, the Independent person will produce his or her own report. This is sent to the complainant with the investigation report. At this stage of the procedure the Independent Person is provided by `Voice', a national charity with whom Bath and North East Somerset has a contract.

ii. At Stage Three of the procedure, the legislation requires that at least one Independent Person is appointed to assist in the consideration of a social services complaint. This can not be the independent person from Stage Two, however, this person is required to attend the panel.

It is now practice in Bath and North East Somerset to use three independent people for each Panel. It is felt that this arrangement reinforces the independence of this stage of the procedure.

Social and Housing Services maintains a list of nine Independent People that it can invite to sit on a Review Panel.

2.5 Advocacy

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 inserted a new section in the Children Act which requires local authorities to provide advocacy services to children and young people making or intending complaints under the under the Children Act 1989. This service is provided in Bath and North East Somerset by `Shout Out!' which is part of `Off the Record' an information, advice and counselling service for young people.

All other complainants are encouraged to access one of the local advocacy services to help them with their complaint. A leaflet about appropriate advocacy services is sent with every complaint acknowledgement letter. These services include Complaints Procedure Advocacy, Bath MIND and Age Concern.

The majority of complainants who choose to use an advocacy service contact `Complaints Procedure Advocacy' which is based in Fishponds, Bristol. Complaints Procedure Advocacy offers various levels of service ranging from telephone advice, issuing a self help pack to attendance at meetings by a paid or volunteer advocate. Despite the range of services offered the take up is low by Bath and North East Somerset residents (7 cases in 2005/6 which is 12% of the total number of complaints dealt with). It is felt that the location of the office is a deterrent to Bath and North East Somerset residents.

A chart detailing the uptake of advocacy services can be found at Appendix A.

2.6 Staffing

The legislation requires Social Services to have a Designated Complaints Officer (DCO) to organise and manage the Complaints and Representations Procedure. This function is carried out by the Complaints Procedure Manager (CPM) which is currently a job share post.

Since April 2005 the Complaints Procedure Managers have split the responsibilities of the post. One member of staff has taken responsibility for the Children and Families Service and the other for Adult Care and Commissioning Services and Housing and Supported Living.

The CPM is also the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Liaison Officer for their respective service area. .

2.7 Accessing the procedure

A general leaflet called `How to comment on or complain about Social and Housing Services' is available at reception points throughout the Council and has been distributed to voluntary organisations and doctors surgeries. The leaflet contains a form to complete and return to a freepost address.

A leaflet with an `alien' logo has been designed specifically for children and young people. This is also available at reception points where the children and family service is based and is given out by social workers, advocacy agencies, etc.

Both leaflets and the accompanying forms are available on the Council's website. The general leaflet is available in Easy English, Braille, on tape, in large print and can be translated into any language.

During 2005/6, 40% of complainants used a complaint form, 48% wrote a letter 2% used email and 8% used the telephone.

All leaflets and forms are due to be reviewed in the next 3 months.

3. Complaint Statistics

Every complaint against Social and Housing Services is logged and tracked on a database using Respond3 software.

3.1 Comparison of number of complaints received

Table 1

	2001/2002	2002/2003	2003/2004	2004/2005	2005/6
Stage 1	50	57	70	54	51
Stage 2	8	10	12	9	4
Stage 3	3	1	3	1	1
Ombudsman	2	0	2	0	2
Total	63	68	87	64	58

A complaint that progresses from one stage to the next will be counted as a new complaint at each stage. This is to allow for monitoring of time scales at each stage and reflects the fact that the complaint is handled by a different manager at each stage.

Only complaints that have completed Stage 1, 2 or 3 are included in the complaints analysis for the year. Those that are on-going on 31^st March will be carried over into the next year.

A breakdown of the number of complaints received by each service area can be found at Appendix B.

3.2 Reason for complaint at Stage1

Table 2

	Discourteous Staff	Discrimination or Harassment	Failure to respond to request	Inaccurate information	Inappropriate Service	Undue Delay	Unsatisfactory Service	Other
Adult Services
Care Commissioning		1			2	2	6	3
Adult Disability Group			1			1
Mental Health
Children and Family Service
Children's Services (Community)	4	1	1		2		3
Children's Services	1		3	2	1		1
Housing Services
Home Seekers			3	1			4
Housing Advice	2		1				4
Other
Finance				1
Total	7	2	9	4	5	3	18	3

A more detailed breakdown by individual team is presented in Appendix C.

The number of complaints recorded against the Mental Health Services has dropped significantly. (One Stage 2 complaint compared to 7 Stage 1 complaints and 1 Stage 2 complaint in 2004 - 5). This has come about as a result of the current arrangements with the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP). The complaint is handled by AWP under the Health Service Complaints Procedure unless it relates specifically to the actions of a member of Social Services staff in which case it is referred on to Social Services. The procedure has yet to be finalised by AWP and Social Services and no figures are available from AWP for the number of complaints handled during 2005 - 6.

The categories used to record the reason for the complaint mirror those used by the Corporate Complaints Procedure.

The `Unsatisfactory Service' category is very broad. Complaints recorded under this category usually relate to expectations about the service not being realised, for example, failure to provide sufficient support. This category is also used where there are a number of issues to be addressed within one complaint.

3.3 Outcome of complaints at Stage 1

Table 3

	Upheld	Partially Upheld	Not Upheld	Apology	Change in Procedure	Provision of service	Change of decision	Disciplinary Action	Change of service	Full explanation	Other
Adult Services
Care Commissioning	1	3	10	3						1
Adult Disability Group		2							1	1
Mental Health
Children and Families Service
Children's Services (Community)	2		9				1				1
Children's Services	2	3	3	3	1					1
Housing Services
Homeseekers Team	1	2	5						1	2
Housing Advice			7
Other
Finance			1
Total	6	10	35	6	1		1		2	5	1

Where the complaint is either upheld or partially upheld the main outcome is recorded. In 38% of cases an apology was given. 1 complaint resulted in a change of procedure, 1 complaint resulted in a change of decision, 2 complaints resulted in a change of service. A full explanation about what went wrong was given to 5 complainants and for one complaint an alternative resolution was found. A full explanation is felt to be appropriate where remedial action is not possible or appropriate.

3.4 Procedural changes

The Complaints Procedure is concerned with resolving concerns and problems for the individual service user efficiently and effectively but it is equally important that information about complaints is used to improve services and their delivery within the wider service area.

At Stage One, one complaint to the Children and Families Service has resulted in a change to the administrative procedures for the distribution of minutes of Child Protection Case Conferences. The complaint identified a series of administrative errors in the distribution of minutes which resulted in minutes being sent to the wrong family.

Although the resolutions for other complaints were related to individual circumstances, for example, in one complaint the worker was changed as a direct result of the complaint, the complaint still provides the opportunity for the service to review and revise procedures. In this example it was appropriate to review standard information sent to the service user prior to the service starting to ensure it was clear.

During the past year the CPM has introduced procedures to review implementation of the recommendations at each stage of the complaints procedure.

4. Performance monitoring

4.1 Acknowledgement of Stage 1 complaints

Table 4

Stage 1 Acknowledgement	2000 - 2001	2002 - 2003	2003 - 2004	2004 -2005	2005 - 2006
In 5 working days	75%	78%	92%	96%	97%
Between 6 & 10 working days	12%	10%	5%	1%	3%
Over 11 working days	13%	12%	3%	3%	0%

Standard: Complaints to be acknowledged within five working days

There has been a steady improvement in the time taken to acknowledge receipt of a complaint over the past 5 years.

Delays in acknowledging the complaint have been caused by the complaint letter or form being wrongly directed.

Appendix D - Table 1 shows the comparison between service areas.

4.2 Replies at Stage One

Table 5

Full response - Stage 1	2001 - 2002	2002 - 2003	2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006
Replied in 20 working days	60%	74%	78%	83%	86%
Replied in 21 - 25 days	8%	7%	8%	11%	7%
Replied in over 26 working days.	32%	19%	14%	6%	7%

Standard: Twenty Working days

Table 5 shows that the improvement in the response to Stage 1 complaints is continuing.

An analysis of the reasons for the delay at the Stage 1 identified the following reasons:

> Complainant failed to respond to an offer of a meeting to discuss the complaint.

> Team Manager and Social Worker on annual leave.

> Team Manager left the authority resulting in a delay before new Team Manager was able to respond.

The CPMs continue to work with managers to help them meet the required time scales, for example, by sending reminders when a response is due. The training workshops run by the CPMs also emphasise the need to respond promptly to complaints and the effect this can have on progression to Stage 2.

Appendix D - Table 2 shows the comparison between service areas.

4.3 Response to complaints at Stage Two

Table 6

Stage 2 Number of days to complete report	2002 - 2003		2003 - 4		2004 - 2005		2005 - 6
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Less than 23 working days	1	12	1	12	1	11	0	0
23 - 28 working days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28+ working days	7	88	7	88	8	89	4	100
Total	8	100	8	100	9	100	4	100

Standard: report to be completed within 23 days

During 2005/6 no Stage 2 reports were completed within the standard of 23 working days and all took in excess of 28 days.

Delays in the process usually occur because of the complexity of the case, the number of people to be interviewed and the number of files to read. At the start of an investigation, the Investigating Officer and Independent Person, where appropriate, meet with the Complaints Procedure Manager to plan the investigation. Dates for interviews and reading files are planned at this meeting in an effort to avoid unnecessary delays. The timescale to complete all interviews, read files and write the report is, however, still very tight.

It is recognised that it is important for the complainant that they are kept informed about delays. At the first meeting with the complainant the Investigating Officer will give a provisional date for the completion of the investigation. In the Children and Families Service, Investigating Officers have also adopted the practice of writing to the complainant at agreed intervals, for example every two weeks, to give information on their progress. The Investigating Officer writes again once the interviews have been completed and they are about to start their report.

An analysis of data from the Southern Region Complaints Officers group which was compiled for 2003/4 indicates that it is not uncommon for Stage 2 investigations to exceed the time scale. The average time taken to resolve a Stage 2 complaint was 75 days compared with 58 days in Bath and North East Somerset. The Regional Complaints Officers Group provides a forum for sharing good practice and ideas for reducing the time taken to complete the investigation.

In Bath and North East Somerset investigations are carried out by team managers who continue with their management responsibilities. Investigating Officers are asked to keep a record of the time spent on the investigation for analysis purposes. One return has been made this year.

Analysis of time spent by Investigating Officers

> Preparation time 12 hours

> Interviews 3 hours

> Travel 1 hour

> Report writing 7 hours

> Liaison with Complaints Manager 1.5 hours

The report writing often proves to be time consuming. The CPMs give assistance to the Investigating Officer by providing a template for the report with guidance notes.

4.4 Equalities information (Stages One and Two)

In order to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 information regarding ethnicity, gender and disability is collected by means of a lose-leaf form within the complaint form. This information is recorded on Respond3 however it is not given to the manager responding to the complaint.

The figures refer to the person receiving the service and not the person making the complaint

Table 7

	Adult Care		Children and Families		Housing		Other
Disability
Disabled	9	56%	1	79%	2	12%
Not Disabled	2	13%	15	16%	7	44%	1	100%
Not Declared	5	31%	3	5%	7	44%

Ethnicity
White UK	20	83%	14	64%	12	71%	1	100%
White Other	1	4%
Black Caribbean	2	9%
Indian
Irish					2	12%
Pakistani
Other			4	18%
Not Declared	1	4%	4	18%	3	17%

Gender
Male	4	25%	5	26%	3	19%
Female	11	69%	8	42%	10	62%	1	100%
Both	1	6%	6	32%	3	19%

5. Compliments

Service Users and carers wishing to make a comment or compliment the service can do so using the Complaint Leaflet entitled `How to comment on or complaint about Social or Housing Services'. This can be returned by freepost to the Complaints Procedure Manager. A separate database is used to capture this information.

Unfortunately, although this information is very important for the development of services, the system for collecting the information is not as well established as the system for collecting complaints data. There is, however, a year on year increase in the numbers recorded and staff are more aware of the need to have it recorded.

An analysis of compliments for each service can be found in Appendix E.

6. Developments during 2005- 2006

6.1 Review of social care complaints procedures

It was anticipated that following a consultation exercise by the Department of Health, the Department for Education and Skills and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) during 2005 that changes to the complaints procedure would be introduced on 1^st April 2006. The implementation date was postponed however until July 2006.

The Complaints Procedure Managers have participated in the consultation process through the regional and national complaints officers group and have undertaken preparatory work in readiness for the implementation.

6.2 Inspection of Children and Families Service

During March 2005 the Commission for Social Care Inspection undertook a review of the Children and Families Service. This resulted in an action plan which set targets for improvement to the provision of information about the complaints and representations procedure and improved links between the outcomes of complaints and continuous service improvements.

The CPM for Children and Families has been working to bring about improvement in both areas. Information about the complaints procedure has been re-issued to all young people served by the Adolescent and Leaving Care Team. This will be rolled out to other teams in coming months.

As mentioned above the CPM has introduced procedures to follow up on implementation of recommendations at each stage of the procedure.

6.3 Training for staff

During 2005/6 the CPM for Children and Families has run a series of training workshops in conjunction with the Operations Manager for Off the Record for all staff in the Children and Families Service. The purpose of these sessions has been to help staff recognise a complaint or representation and explore their role and that of the advocate in the complaints process.

Appendix A - Use of Advocacy Services

Table A1 - Use of Off the Record Advocacy Service (Shout Out!)

Gender	Age	Status	Area of Complaint
Female	22	Care Leaver	Various aspects of the leaving care services
Male	14	Young Person - Looked After	Family issues. Sister's safety and mother's accommodation
Female	23	Care Leaver	Access to Leaving Care Grant
Female	18	Young Homeless	Housing advice/homelessness

Table A2 - Use of Complaints Procedure Advocacy

Type of support	Service Area	Area of complaint
General help and case work	Adult Care - support to disabled parent	Reduction of Direct Payments
General help and case work	Adult Care - Supported Living	Inadequate, unsatisfactory service
Self help and case work	Adult Care - charging increases	Adult Care Plan
Case work	Children & Families Child Protection issues	Staff behaviour.
General help and case work	Children & Families Family Support	Inadequate services
General help and case work	Adult Services - Care Plan	Behaviour of staff and service withdrawn
Case Work	Children & Families Transition from foster care to independence	Unsatisfactory Service

Appendix B - Complaints received by service area

Table B1 - Adult Care and Commissioning

	Complaints Stage 1	Complaints Stage 2	Complaints Stage 3	Ombudsman Enquiries	Not valid/Not Pursued
Adult Services (Number of referrals 2005/6 = 3,638)
Care Commissioning
Bath Adult Care Team	2			1	2
Home Care	2				1
Occupational Therapy
North East Somerset Adult Care	4				2
Sensory Services	4			1	2
Hospital Social Work Team	1				1
Community Alarm	1
Adult Disability
CLDT	2
Supported Living		1
Mental Health
Social Work Teams		1			1
Support Services
Service Area Total	16	2		2	9

Table B2 - Children and Families Service

	Complaints Stage 1	Complaints Stage 2	Complaints Stage 3	Ombudsman Enquiries	Not valid/Not Pursued
Children and Family Service (Number of referrals 2005/6 = 1,356)
Children's Services (Community)
Adolescent and Leaving Care	10
Family Placement Team
Foster Carers
Looked After Team	1
Children's Services
Children and Families Team	6
Referral and Assessment Team
Disabled Children's Team	1		1		1
C&F archive - no current team	1
Service Area Total	19		1		1

Table B3 - Housing and Supported Living

	Complaints Stage 1	Complaints Stage 2	Complaints Stage 3	Ombudsman Enquiries	Not valid/Not Pursued
Housing and Supported Living
Housing Seekers	8
Housing Advice	7	2			1
Housing Development
Housing Improvement
Residential Care Services					1
Service Area Total	15	2			1

Table B4 - Other Services

	Complaints Stage 1	Complaints Stage 2	Complaints Stage 3	Ombudsman Enquiries	Not valid/Not Pursued
Others
Emergency Duty Team
Finance	1
CPM
Total	1

Appendix C - Reason for the complaint

Table C1 - Adult Care and Commissioning

	Discourteous Staff	Discrimination or Harassment	Failure to respond to request	Inaccurate information	Inappropriate Service	Undue Delay	Unsatisfactory Service	Other
Adult Services
Care Commissioning
Bath Adult Care Team					1	1
Home Care							1	1
Occupational Therapy
North East Somerset Adult Care		1					1	2
Sensory Services						1	3
Hospital Social Work							1
Community Alarm					1
Adult Disability Group
CLDT			1			1
Community Services
Mental Health
Social Work Teams
Support Services
Service Area Total		1	1		2	3	6	3

Table C2 - Children and Families Service

	Discourteous Staff	Discrimination or Harassment	Failure to respond to request	Inaccurate information	Inappropriate Service	Undue Delay	Unsatisfactory Service	Other
Children and Family Service
Children's Services (Community)
Adolescent & Leaving Care	4	1	1		2		2
Foster Carers
Looked After Team							1
Children's Services
Children and Families Team	1		2	2			1
Referral and Assessment
Disabled Children's Team			1
C&F archive - no team					1
Service Area Total	5	1	4	2	3		4

Table C3 - Housing and Supported Living

	Discourteous Staff	Discrimination or Harassment	Failure to respond to request	Inaccurate information	Inappropriate Service	Undue Delay	Unsatisfactory Service	Other
Housing and Supported Living
Housing Seekers			3	1			4
Housing Advice	2		1				4
Housing Development
Housing Improvement
Residential Care Services
Service Area Total	2		4	1			8

Table C4 - Other Services

	Discourteous Staff	Discrimination or Harassment	Failure to respond to request	Inaccurate information	Inappropriate Service	Undue Delay	Unsatisfactory Service	Other
Other
Emergency Duty Team
Finance				1
CPM
Total				1

Appendix D - Response Times

Table D1 - Stage 1 Acknowledgement

Stage 1 Acknowledgement	Adult Care	Children and Families	Housing	Other
In 5 working days	96%	96%	100%	100%
Between 6 & 10 working days	4%	4%	0%	0%
Over 11 working days	0%	0%	0%	0%

Table D2 - Stage 1 - Full Response

Full response - Stage 1	Adult Care	Children and Families	Housing	Other
Replied in 20 working days	85%	80%	94%	100%
Replied in 21 - 25 working days	5%%	10%	6%	0
Replied in over 26 working days	10%	10%	0%	0%

Appendix E - Compliments received

Table E1 - Adult Care and Commissioning

	Number	Examples of comments
Adult Services
Care Commissioning
Bath Adult Care Team	6	`Kind and caring' `Excellent report - thorough and sympathetic' and expressions of appreciation for maintaining a relative at home.
Home Care	12	`Excellent service' `Excellent, caring, efficient and friendly service' `Continuity' and thanks for responding to an urgent request.
Occupational Therapy	2	Appreciation for provision of adaptations and equipment.
North East Somerset Adult Care	2	`Social Worker has been a great support'
Hospital Social Work Team	5	Professionalism and support Help with package of care to move relative home Help to settle relative in respite care Help with discharge from hospital `Care and hard work'
Adult Disability
CLDT	4	Conduct of daughter's review. Help with securing funding Support with moving home
Community Services	1	Exceptional kindness shown by Connections staff
Mental Health
Social Work Teams	3	Help with package of care and placement. `Hard work'

Table E2 - Children and Families Service

Children and Family Service
Children's Services (Community)
Adolescent and Leaving Care	4	Being listened to Being involved in decisions Assistance with moving to independence
Children's Services
Disabled Children's Team	2	Knowing the family well Maintaining good relationships in a difficult case

Table E3 - Housing and Supported Living

Housing and Supported Living
Housing Seekers	13	Advice on finding a flat Listening and being patient Good Service x 8 Polite and helpful
Housing Advice	1	Handling of an interview with an ex-offender