Local councils

Councils in England are organised in one of four different ways:

• a committee system
• a Leader and Cabinet
• executive arrangements with a directly elected Mayor
• arrangements prescribed by the Secretary of State.

Below are some examples of how complaints can be scrutinised in the first three models listed above.

Committee system

The Member responsible for complaints function can be carried out by a committee.

Councils operating a committee system should ensure that the committee is able to scrutinise performance across all council services and has the power to hold senior leaders to account and provide strategic leadership on complaint handling culture. This could be a scrutiny committee or a committee with responsibility for overseeing customer service delivery. The Chair of the committee may want to take a leading role in ensuring the committee receives information it needs and that any agreed actions are taken and reported back to the committee.

The relevant committee should receive regular updates on complaint handling performance. However, the annual report on complaint handling performance is best heard at a Full Council meeting alongside comments or feedback from the relevant committee. This ensures complaint handling is placed at the centre of corporate governance and provides the public with the confidence that all Members are fully aware of how the council is handling complaints.

All relevant committees should have regular access to complaints information about areas they are responsible for as this provides important intelligence about the culture of each service area, specific issues with service delivery and levels of customer satisfaction. Other committees should provide feedback to the committee with overall responsibility for complaints around specific issues within services they are responsible for overseeing.

Leader and Cabinet / directly elected Mayor and Executive.

A Cabinet Member should be nominated by the Leader or Mayor as the Member responsible for complaints. This role can be carried out alongside the Cabinet Member’s other responsibilities.

The role would best sit with a Cabinet Member responsible for corporate activities, access to services or customer services rather than a Member responsible for a specific directorate or service area. This means the Member is well placed to consider performance across the whole organisation.

The relevant Member should receive regular updates on complaint handling performance. However, the annual report on complaint handling performance is best heard at a Full Cabinet meeting alongside comments or feedback from the relevant Member. This ensures complaint handling is placed at the centre of corporate governance and provides the public with the confidence that all Members are fully aware of how the council is handling complaints.

Other Cabinet Members should have regular access to complaints information about areas they are responsible for as this provides important information about the culture of each service area, specific issues with service delivery and levels of customer satisfaction.

The Leader or Mayor and all Cabinet Members should work in partnership with the Member responsible for complaints to hold senior leaders to account for complaint handling performance and ensure there is a culture of openness across the council.

Other organisations

Not all organisations have elected Members to scrutinise performance. Some organisations have board members or similar arrangements to hold senior leaders to account for the performance of the organisation.

It is for each organisation to decide who is best placed to fulfil the role of Member responsible for complaints.