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STATES OF JERSEY
HANDLING AND LEARNING FROM COMPLAINTS (R.67/2020): EXECUTIVE RESPONSE
Presented to the States on 27th August 2020 by the Public Accounts Committee
STATES GREFFE
2020 R.67 Res.
FOREWORD
In accordance with paragraphs 64-66 of the Code of Practice for engagement between Scrutiny Panels and the Public Accounts Committee' and the Executive', the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presents the Executive Response to the Comptroller and Auditor General's (C&AG) Report on Handling and Learning from Complaints.
The PAC will consider the contents further to inform the presentation of more detailed comments in due course.
Senator S.C. Ferguson
Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
Page - 2
R.67/2020 Res.
The Chief Executive's response to Comptroller and Auditor General's Review: Handling Complaints
August 2020
Glossary of Terms
C&AG – Comptroller and Auditor General ELT – Executive Leadership Team
GoJ – Government of Jersey
KPI – Key Performance Indicator
Review title: C&AG Review: Handling Complaints - Executive Response to PAC by Wednesday 19th August 2020 please. Summary of response
The Chief Executive welcomes the findings of the C&AG report and considers that the recommendations will provide a useful platform to further develop the way customer feedback and complaints are used across the organisation. The action plan will be led by colleagues from Customer and Local Services who have identified the corrective actions and initiatives that will address the recommendations.
Since 2018 the Government of Jersey, led by Customer and Local Services, has been focussed on making improvements to our complaints handling approach and process and have made significant progress already, with a corporate policy, centralised web page and online feedback mechanism. A proactive communications campaign has engaged the public and is actively encouraging feedback.
For the first time, the organisation has implemented a corporate policy regarding managing customer feedback. As the policy and processes becomes more embedded across all departments, the Government will be in a richer position to understand more about common themes with respect to feedback and complaints and use this intelligence along with other management and performance information to drive service improvement.
We recognise we still have more work to do, and several of the recommendations had already been captured as potential improvements as part of the review of the customer feedback policy. This includes, but is not limited to, analysis of policy, process, systems and the organisational limitations identified within the report findings. The recommendations serve as useful confirmation that our direction of travel is correct.
This action plan has been shared with departments and considered by the Executive Leadership Team, with a view to further creating a culture of open and honest feedback and learning lessons across the Government of Jersey.
Action Plan
Recommendations | Action | Target date | Responsible Officer |
R1 Include in the planned post- implementation review consideration of solutions to the current barriers to access, including for: • children and young people; • people with sensory disabilities; | As part of the planned post implementation review of the customer feedback policy, access barriers will be identified. This will be achieved through voice of customer research and through partnership with internal teams & stakeholders. | Q4 2020 | Head of Customer Experience |
• those whose first language is not English; and • those with learning and reading difficulties. | The outcome of this initiative will then allow for solutions to be scoped and prioritised. This will focus on making improvements to the systems and processes (where required). |
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R2 Explicitly state in the Customer Feedback Policy and in relevant literature and communications that there is no charge for complaints handling. | The customer feedback page on gov.je and the Customer Feedback Policy document have been updated to inform customers that we do not charge for the consideration of complaints. | Complete | n/a |
R3 Develop and agree a corporate process so that departments can obtain assurance that: • contracted out service providers have an accessible and comprehensive complaints management process; • contracted out service providers and departments have a shared understanding of the scope and responsibilities of each other's complaints processes; and • there are mutually agreed approaches to handling complaints relating to more than one public body, including coverage of information exchanges, joint working and monitoring the effectiveness of handling such complaints. | Review current internal customer feedback management process for external contractors to identify gaps and areas for development, which will be addressed. Work to deliver an agreement with existing and future contractors that aligns with our OneGov corporate customer feedback vision and our customer's needs. It is anticipated that the outcome of the review will allow the Government to more consistent in complaints handling across all services, not just those that delivered by Government departments, which will: • Enable Government to have a better understanding of Islander perspectives on a wider range of services • Improve contracting and commissioning arrangements by focusing on improvement of services for Islanders | Q1 2021 | Group Director – Customer Services |
R4 Develop and adopt a common role description for key departmental staff involved in handling complaints. | These have been developed and will be rolled out to all department representatives to ensure all Department Feedback Managers, Section Feedback Managers and Feedback Advisers understand their remit and role and adhere to agreed responsibilities. | Q3 2020 | Customer Feedback Manager |
R5 Develop, agree and implement corporate arrangements for support, including training for and oversight of departmental complaints handlers. | Development of training collateral for GoJ staff that covers essential aspects of Customer Feedback handling and provides a consistent understanding of how feedback can be captured and resolved across all departments. This will include specific training for Department and Section Feedback Managers around handling and responding to complaints while identifying opportunities for service and organisational improvements. The review of the customer feedback policy will identify system enhancements that will enable increased transparency and accountability of performance. This will include improvements to management information allowing us to monitor and highlight areas of success and those requiring improvement. | Q2 2021 | Group Director – Customer Services |
R6 Develop, adopt, roll out and monitor compliance with corporate standards for promoting awareness of complaints handling processes for volunteers. | Review current processes for volunteers across departments and identify where there are gaps in the provision of training and appropriate processes for customer feedback management for the volunteer workforce. The findings from this review will feed into the creation of the overarching corporate process and compliance monitoring arrangements. | Q2 2021 | Head of Customer Experience |
R7 Identify barriers to take-up of mandatory on-line training and take appropriate corrective action. | We will work with Department Feedback Managers and Departmental Heads of Communications to identify blockers such as engagement and work to increase uptake of training. This will also identify any specific departmental needs. Customer and Local Services | Q4 2020 | Group Director – Customer Services |
| colleagues will work with colleagues from People and Corporate Services to identify how this can be achieved and to ensure new starters all complete the online training as part of the corporate induction programme. By taking into account department feedback, we will then develop actions to improve engagement with future customer training. Executive Leadership Team to support departmental take up and completion of training. |
| Director General Customer and Local Services |
R8 Develop, adopt and roll out operating procedures and model documentation to support application of the Customer Feedback Policy covering: • initial contact; • complaint assessment and assignment of priority; • planning of the complaint investigation; • securing fairness in the investigation; • complaint response; • review of complaints; and • identification of systemic issues. | A Customer Feedback Manual' that is inclusive of the points within this recommendation will be developed in collaboration will all departments to ensure that both policy and customer needs are met. | Q4 2020 | Group Director – Customer Services |
R9 Ensure that operating procedures adequately address: • provision of reasons for decisions; • provision of interim decisions; | The previously mentioned Customer Feedback Manual will be inclusive of this will be developed in collaboration will all departments to ensure that both policy and customer needs are met. | Q4 2020 | Group Director – Customer Services |
• consideration of each element of a complaint; • criteria for escalation in handling; • handling of complaints that fall within the scope of the Whistleblowing Policy; and • offering complainants the opportunity to seek review of a decision. |
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R10 Prioritise system developments to capture: • the remedy being sought; and • systemic issues in a structured way, to facilitate learning and improvement. | A review of the Customer Feedback Management System is likely to recommend a number of system enhancements. Where common themes are identified through engagement with Departmental Feedback Manager and other colleagues, systemic issues will be addressed to support corporate learning and improvement. | Q4 2020 | Head of Customer Experience |
R11 Establish and implement procedures for quality assurance of all departmental procedures for handling complaints. | Procedures for establishing improved quality assurance arrangements, which may include a greater focus on system audit, complaints investigation and compliance monitoring will be rolled out as part of the Customer Feedback Quality Assurance Framework that is currently being developed. | Q1 2021 | Group Director – Customer Services |
R12 Establish and implement procedures for monitoring departmental compliance with corporate policy. | As noted in R11 this will be rolled out as part of the Customer Feedback Quality Assurance Framework that is currently being developed. | Q1 2021 | Group Director – Customer Services |
R13 Develop a clear plan for improvement in data quality regarding complaints and monitor its implementation. | The current system limitations are impacting data quality. Enhancements to the system are to be scoped and implemented to address this issue. | Q1 2021 | Head of Customer Experience |
| Following implementation, management information resulting from complaints data will become easier to analyse and report. |
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R14 Expand data capture and KPIs to cover: • characteristics of complainants; • geographical spread; • complaints that expose weaknesses or raise questions about integrity and reputation; • instances of unreasonable behaviour by complainants; • the outcome of complaints; • the themes from complaints on a structured basis; and • measures of efficiency and effectiveness of complaints handling, including the timeliness of complaints handling and complainant satisfaction. | Management information and a supporting KPI suite will be designed and developed in accordance with the recommended areas for data capture. Focus will be placed on those reporting metrics which are specifically relevant for government. | Q1 2021 | Head of Customer Experience |
R15 Set targets for all KPIs. | In line with the post implementation review findings and system enhancements, KPI targets in line with the updated Customer Feedback Policy will be set to ensure government-wide accountability and performance measurement. The targets will be agreed by ELT to ensure government-wide accountability and consistent performance measurement. | Q1 2021 | Director General, Customer and Local Services |
R16 Ensure that KPIs facilitate measurement of performance against the objectives of the Customer Feedback Policy. | |||
R17 Develop plans to use information from the Customer Feedback Management System for performance management purposes. | |||
R18 Identify and use relevant metrics to evaluate the extent to which the Government's objectives in relation to complaints are consistently understood and owned. | |||
R19 Develop plans for a relaunch of the Customer Feedback Policy to staff following further work to secure management buy-in and implementation of the recommendations about complaints management contained in (the C&AG's) report. | Design and relaunch comms and engagement strategy, which will be developed in partnership with colleagues across the organisation, including Internal Communications. The communications and engagement plan will incorporate all C&AG recommendations. | Q3 2020 and ongoing | Head of Communications |