Issue - meetings

The Committee is asked to receive and acknowledge the Complaints Reporting – Annual Report 2025/2026

The Committee resolved to agree to receive and acknowledge the report.

The Committee considered the Annual Complaints Report 2025/26.

The Group Head of Commissioning and Transformation advised members that the Council’s complaint procedure consisted of two levels of complaints. Initially, all new complaints were treated as Stage 1 complaints and were responded to by the relevant service. As this stage, as much information and evidence was gathered to provide a robust response. If the complainant is not satisfied with the response from the service, the complaint will be escalated to a Stage 2 complaint and would be dealt with by the Complaints Officer. If the second response did not satisfy the complainant, it could be referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for them to review both the original complaint and the Council’s responses.

Concerns were raised about the increase in Stage 1 complaints received in 2025/26. It was suggested that social media provided a platform for the public to express dissatisfaction and made it easier for people to submit complaints.

The Committee resolved to agree to receive and acknowledge the report.