Published: Tuesday, 19th September 2017
We are continuing to make sure we deal with customer complaints in the best way possible.
Councillors on our Executive Committee have heard that we received 563 valid complaints in 2016/17, down very slightly from 564 in 2015/16.
Benchmarking
We compare favourably with similar Scottish councils in terms of numbers of complaints received and time taken to respond.
However work is needed to ensure more complaints are dealt with as early as possible.
Councillor Simon Mountford, Executive Member for Transformation and HR:
"Generally, we are pleased with our performance but we can’t be complacent and it’s important that we constantly review our complaints handling procedures.
“It’s disappointing when someone feels that our services have fallen below the standards expected of us but this is an important process as their feedback gives us an opportunity to review and where necessary make improvements to those services.”
Complaints made only accounted for 0.4% of all customer interactions recorded on our customer relationship management system.
Meanwhile, the way people are getting in touch with the Council is shifting, with online complaints increasing by 61% compared to the previous year, rising from 209 to 336.
Councillor Mountford:
“We welcome an increase in online contact but are keen to ensure our guidance for customers on this is as clear as possible. As such, the Executive has agreed to review and improve our online guidance to help members of the public who may have a complaint or service request.”
A number of other actions have been approved by councillors.
These include improving frontline responses and ensuring our customer strategy reflects improved complaints handling.
More information
View the report to the Executive Committee.
Read more about our complaints procedure.