Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the minutes from the meeting held on 20^th, November 2023

b)  Matters Arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2023 were agreed and signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Report of the Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership considered a report of the Chief Executive, that would also be considered at the meeting of Ethics Committee on 9^th January 2025 and the meeting of Audit and Procurement Committee on 29^th January 2025, which set out the number, trends and outcomes of complaints to the LGSCO relating to Coventry City Council in 2023/24. It focused on upheld complaints, compliance with Ombudsman’s recommendations, where the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the LGSCO, and how the Authority compared to previous years and other local authorities.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) was the final stage for complaints about Councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other organisations providing local public services. It was a free service that investigated complaints in a fair and independent way and provided a means of redress to individuals for injustice caused by unfair treatment or service failure.

Coventry City Council’s Complaints Policy sets out how individual members of the public could complain to the Council, as well as how the Council would handle their compliments, comments and complaints. The Council also informed individuals of their rights to contact the LGSCO if they were not happy with the Council’s decision once they had exhausted the Council’s complaints process.

The LGSCO issued an annual letter to the Leader and Chief Executive of every Council, summarising the number and trends of complaints dealt with relating to that Council that year. The latest letter, issued 17 July 2024, covered complaints to the LGSCO relating to Coventry City Council between April 2023 and March 2024 (2023/24).

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership:

1. Notes the Council’s performance in relation to complaints to the LGSCO.

2. Notes the Council’s complaints process and guidance.

3. Requests that the Audit and Procurement Committee review and be assured that the Council takes appropriate action in response to complaints investigated and where the Council is found to be at fault.

There are no outstanding issues.

There were no outsanding issues.

Any other items of public business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no items of urgent public buisness.