Agenda item

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The Interim Corporate Governance Manager presented the annual monitoring report for 2025-2026. She reported a 46% increase in MP inquiries a 47% increase in corporate complaints, and a rise in FOI compliance from 61% to 91.2%. The report also covered the number and outcomes of complaints at various stages, the volume of FOI and data subject access requests, and the handling of data breaches.

The team will be implementing a revised data protection policy, have delivered staff training, and established a network of 40-45 information governance leads. A new corporate management system is being introduced to automate and improve the tracking and reporting of complaints, FOIs, and data protection matters.

Councillor Jones question if a data mapping process had been considered. The Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained this had been partly implemented with the focus more on personal data. She added there was a programme running in parallel on data governance and this will require an audit of data including data mapping.

In response to a question from Councillor Sayers, the Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained the increase in MP inquiries were predominantly from James Wild’s office and focused on housing. She provided assurance FOI requests were given an earlier deadline than 20 days to improve compliance.

The Vice – Chair, Councillor Long questioned the reason for an increase in the number of complaints received and if a theme or trend had been identified.

The Interim Corporate Governance Manager advised, common complaint themes identified included customer service, complaint handling and trust, perceived unfairness or bias, and dissatisfaction with operational services.

The panel discussed the need for better learning mechanisms and process improvements to address recurring issues and to clarify what constitutes a valid complaint.

The Chief of Staff and Monitoring Officer provided further assurance to the Panel all stage two complaints were overseen by the Executive Leadership Team therefore trends could be identified along with service errors.

In response to Councillor Crofts, the Interim Corporate Governance Officer explained ICO stood for Information Commissioner’s Office which is the supervisory authority for Data Protection matters.

The Chair Councillor Blunt questioned what the trend was prior to the last two years and if this was benchmarked against other Local Authorities. The Chief of Staff and Monitoring advised complaints data previously was held inconsistently therefore unable to report on. The Interim Corporate Governance Manager advised data from other Local Authorities was not known however could be looked at for benchmarking.

The Leader, Councillor Beales, commented the Governance Team had brought clarity to the process and identifying trends of complaints. He highlighted there was further resource needed within the team and performance was improving.

In response to Councillor Nash question on the unreasonable complainer’s policy and the ombudsman, the Interim Corporate Governance Manager explained there are currently two people on the unreasonable complainers policy and provided assurance these figures would be included in future reports. She provided assurance that all complaints were handled with the aim of achieving early resolution rather than being escalated through our internal processes or to the ombudsman.

RESOLVED: Members of the Corporate Performance Panel scrutinised the content of the report.