Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

1.1     None declared.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2018 (cream paper).

2.1     Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 March 2018 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

Report by Executive Director, Communities and Public Protection and Director of Communities.

The report outlines complaints and compliments received by the County Council in the last two years, including learning from them. The Committee is invited to note the report.

3.1     The Committee received a report by the Executive Director, Communities and Public Protection and Director of Communities (copy appended to the signed minutes) which outlined complaints and compliments received by the County Council in the last two years, including the learning from them.

3.2     The report was introduced by David Tominey, Complaints Manager, who advised that the 2016 and 2017 data had been presented in a new dashboard format, following a detailed review. Compliments were being more routinely recorded as well as better quality complaints information. Learning from complaints was included in the report and levels seemed to be reasonably stable.

3.3     The Committee highlighted the importance of recording complaints accurately and acting on the learning. It welcomed assurances that expected levels of customer service were being highlighted to contractors to improve consistency of complaints handling across contracted services. In response to questions from the Committee, Mr Tominey reported that one of the main problems for the Council at the moment was for customers to receive responses within agreed corporate timescales. He highlighted that senior managers were now receiving monitoring information so that late responses could be chased.

3.4     The Committee asked if customers were surveyed following the conclusion of complaints. Mr Tominey confirmed that this had been introduced as an automatic follow-up from May 2018, to obtain a better understanding of people’s satisfaction or otherwise.

3.5     The Chairman invited any members with comments on how to improve the format of the reports to contact Mr Tominey direct with their suggestions.

3.6     Resolved – That the report be noted.

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The report advises of proposed changes to the Codes of Conduct with the intention of simplifying and streamlining the Constitution. The Committee is invited to agree the recommendations in the report.

4.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to signed minutes) which set out proposed revisions to the Constitution.

4.2     The report was introduced by Charles Gauntlett, Senior Advisor, Democratic Services. He advised that the Constitution was undergoing a thorough revision to make it clearer and to reduce duplication. The Codes of Conduct had been reviewed and several pieces of advice currently held outside the Codes of Conduct would be put into it so that it was all in one place. It was also proposed to take several corporate and HR policies out of the Constitution altogether, to be held elsewhere.

4.3     The Committee welcomed the proposed changes but hoped that officers would be mindful of the rules of the Constitution, particularly the Member and Officer Relations Protocol. Mr Gauntlett confirmed that these rules would be publicised after the changes to the Constitution were confirmed and that key points were raised at every staff induction meeting.

4.4     Resolved –

(1)     That the proposed revisions to the Code of Conduct included in Part 5 sections 1 and 2 be supported for submission to the County Council for approval.

(2)     That the proposed removal of Part 5 sections 8-13 and the proposed removal of the corporate advice notes be supported for submission to the County Council for approval.

(3)     That authority be delegated to the Director of Human Resources to make and amend future policies relating to staff conduct in consultation with the Director of Law and Assurance.

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The report sets out a proposed Annual Report for submission to the County Council. The Committee is asked to agree the draft Annual Report, subject to any requested changes.

5.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to the signed minutes), which provided a draft annual report of the committee’s work during 2017/18 for submission to the County Council.

5.2     Resolved – That the draft Annual Report be approved for submission to the County Council on 20 July 2018.

The Committee is invited to note that the Director of Law and Assurance has not received any referrals via this Policy since the last meeting of the Committee.

No background papers.

Contact: Charles Gauntlett 033022 22524

6.1     The Committee noted that the Director of Law and Assurance had not received any referrals via this policy since the last meeting of the Committee.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 2.15 pm on Monday 5 November 2018 at County Hall, Chichester.

7.1     The Committee noted that its next scheduled meeting would be held at 2.15 p.m. on Monday 5 November 2018 at County Hall, Chichester.