Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12th May 2025 were agreed and signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of People Services

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources considered a report of the Director of Peoples Services relating to the updated ‘Compliments, Comments & Complaints’ and ‘Unreasonable Complainant Actions’ policies.

For context the Council is expected to have defined policies and procedures in place for dealing with any complaints received. These policies must be in keeping with the relevant statutory complaints processes and / or the advice and guidance issued by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) under their powers under section 23(12A) of the 1974 Local Government Act.

In February 2024 the LGSCO issued their ‘Complaint Handing Code’ (‘the Code’) to local authorities, setting out their expectations for complaint handling, as well as scrutiny and oversight by senior officers and elected officials. Councils are encouraged to adopt the Code as soon as practicable and the LGSCO will be considering adherence to the Code as part of their complaint investigations from April 2026 onwards. Councils must also demonstrate they have considered the Code when developing complaint handling policies and procedures, and when responding to complaints.

Coventry City Council’s current ‘Compliments, Comments and Complaints’ Policy was written in 2013 and is out-of-date and not fully compliant with the new Code. The updated ‘Compliments, Comments & Complaints’ and ‘Unreasonable Complainant Actions’ policies will address these shortcomings.

The revised version was considered by the Scrutiny Task and Finish Group in August 2024 and Leadership Board in October 2024.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources:

1.  Approves the updated ‘Compliments, Comments and Complaints’ Policy and Process and the ‘Unreasonable Complainant Actions’ Policy, as appended to this report, together with their publication and implementation.

There were no other items of urgent public business.