Issue - meetings

(i)       to note the detail of the report; and

(ii)      in response to a question regarding the number of applications that had been made to the Scottish Welfare Fund, the Customer Services Manager advised that she would provide the information to the Councillor outwith the meeting.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director of Corporate Services which provided information on all Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and Inspector of Cremations decisions made in relation to Aberdeen City Council since the last reporting cycle, to provide assurance to Committee that complaints and Scottish Welfare Fund applications were being handled appropriately.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the details of the report.

In response to a question regarding whether the Council had provided evidence to the SPSO that the complaint handling process had been reviewed, the Customer Services Manager advised that there was a complaint handling process in place and that in this case there had been some errors made whilst dealing with the complaint.  She further advised that the service had received complaint training and briefings to ensure they would be fully compliant with the procedure in the future, and that the SPSO had been provided with this information.

In response to a question regarding whether the training addressed the need to protect the organisation but also protect the individual, the Customer Services Manager advised that the training covered this and that the Customer Feedback team who provided the responses were independent and able to ensure the responses were unbiased and measured.  The Executive Director of Corporate Services advised that there were a low number of complaints referred to the SPSO and that there were lessons learnt from each case.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in response to a question regarding the number of applications that had been made to the Scottish Welfare Fund, to note that the Customer Services Manager advised that she would provide the information to the Councillor outwith the meeting; and

(ii)      to otherwise approve the recommendation contained in the report.