Corporate complaints policy - How we learn from and review complaints

We believe a positive complaint handling culture can help us improve the way we resolve disputes. Accountability and transparency are integral to a positive open culture. 

Walsall Council uses complaints as a source of information to identify issues and introduce positive changes in the way we deliver services. All complaints provide an opportunity for us to review the way we do things and how we provide services. 

The Customer Experience Centre has a system that is designed to enable managers to identify learning opportunities from complaints and to ensure that they are followed up in the appropriate way. 

The Corporate Complaints Manager oversees the way we handle complaints. They will assess any trends to identify potential institutional issues, serious risks, or policies and procedures that require revision. 

This system helps managers provide evidence for external inspection bodies, if it is required. The relevant senior management teams receive “Learning from Complaints” reports on a regular basis. 

Complaints performance and service improvement report 

We recognise the value of learning from complaints and ensuring a consistency in our handling of complaints is key to our improving outcomes and customer experience and service efficiency and engagement. These are key elements supporting good governance and reporting on them demonstrates openness and accountability.

As part of this we publish an annual complaints performance and service improvement report* detailing our complaint handling outcomes:

• Number of complaints received at stage 1 & 2
• Outcome of complaints at stage 1 & 2 (e.g. upheld, partially upheld etc.)
• Complaints response times
• Number of complaints by service area or department
• What we have learned from complaints and how improvement have been embedded

(*The report will be available on the Council website)

Review period 

This Policy will be reviewed every two years, or sooner if there are significant changes in legislation or Council procedures.