Background
Effective management of complaints from members of the public about public bodies can:
- provide valuable information about weaknesses in programmes of work, policies and service delivery
- stimulate improvement
- reassure the public that an organisation is committed to resolving problems; and
- enhance accountability and transparency.
Poor handling of complaints can:
- fail to produce learning and improvement
- lead to repetition and in some cases exacerbation of the underlying issue
- damage an organisation’s reputation; and
- impact on an organisation’s relationship with the public and other stakeholders.
Scope
This review evaluated:
- the design and operation of the Government’s current arrangements for handling and learning from complaints; and
- the design of proposed changes in the arrangements for handling and learning from complaints.
Conclusions
The Government has taken important steps to improve complaints handling. The adoption of a Customer Feedback Policy, investment in a Customer Feedback Management System, recruitment of a corporate team and designation of departmental staff have shown a commitment to improving complaints handling.
More work is required to secure consistent handling of and learning from complaints. In particular, there is a need for a focus on:
- ensuring that the staff handling complaints are people with the right skills, experience, training and supervision
- ensuring that there are appropriate processes, consistently applied, to facilitate the delivery of the Customer Feedback Policy
- ensuring that the Customer Feedback Management System is developed where necessary and its capacity fully used; and
- maximising the value that can be secured from the analysis of complaints and handling.
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