Equality impact assessment - complaints handling

Please tell us what you think about our website, we welcome your feedback.

Customer notice

Due to essential maintenance some of our web services will be unavailable between these times 7pm Friday 25 May and 5pm Sunday 27 May 2012.

1. What is the name of the policy or service that is being assessed?

Corporate Complaints Procedure

2. What are the aims of the policy or service? Whose needs is it designed to meet? What are the current priorities?

To provide a means for service users to complain about the services they receive from the council, and for the council to improve services using data derived from complaints

3. In what ways might this policy or service affect some groups of people differently? Might some groups find it harder to access the service? Do some groups have particular needs that are not well met by the current policy or service?

The service is intended to be used by all the residents of Wiltshire, should they need to do so. This means that our service users encompass the full range of potential needs. The policy has been designed to accomplish this as far as possible. In particular, the policy and procedure provides for support and advocacy for vulnerable people and those with learning difficulties, and there is a separate complaints leaflet that describes the procedure with pictures and in easy English. The full procedure was written using the Plain English guidelines. Complaints do not have to be made in writing, which is designed to make it as accessible as possible to people with disabilities, as well as people whose first language is not English. The guidance requires complaints officers to consider the specific needs of service users, and gives examples of how to address these.

There is still an issue with translation services. Although we have not yet received a complaint from anyone who is unable to communicate in English, this remains a possibility, and in fact becomes more likely as our population becomes more ethnically diverse. The solution to this problem needs to be found corporately, since there is no resource to address it within the complaints budget.

4. What evidence do you have for your judgement? Is there evidence of public concern (e.g. complaints)? Have staff raised concerns? Is there local or national research to suggest that there could be a problem?

The procedure is based on good practice procedures adopted in inner city areas, specifically in London. It was written with diversity in mind. It has been independently reviewed by the Audit Commission and found to be robust in terms of its accessibility. We have not received any complaints about it that relate to diversity or accessibility.

5. Who have you consulted with as part of your assessment? What were the results? Have you published the results of that consultation? If so, where?

We have not received any complaints about the procedure, and no user of the procedure has raised any concerns about it in diversity terms, even though some have expressed dissatisfaction because their complaint was not upheld. When the procedure was originally written officers sought advice and input from WREC, local Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, and carers’ support organisations. This input was incorporated into the procedure.

6. If you have found that the policy or service might have an adverse impact on a particular group of people, can you justify this?

It has not been possible to identify any adverse impact arising specifically from the procedure, and in fact, it would be hard to see how any such adverse impact could be justified, given the purpose of the procedure.

7. If the impact cannot be justified, what do you intend to do about this? Are there changes that you could introduce which would make the policy or service work better for this group of people? Is further research or consultation required?

See above

8. How will you monitor the take-up or impact of the policy or service in future?

As part of existing procedures which already permit us to monitor equalities issues arising from complaints.

9. What actions do you plan to take as a result of this equality impact assessment? Please state any resource implications

See earlier comment about translation and interpreting provision.

10. There is a legal requirement to publish the outcomes of Equality Impact Assessments. Please outline how / where this will happen

On the complaints section of the council’s website.

11. Name of person completing form

Corporate Standards Manager

12. Senior manager approval

Assistant Director - Corporate Services

Date

27 September 2007

Last updated: 13 May 2009