The Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the council's complaints monitoring process and to review the committee's work programme for the remainder of the municipal year. The committee reviewed the council's handling of complaints, including those escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). The committee agreed to the work programme as presented.

Complaints Monitoring Report

The committee reviewed the Complaints Monitoring Report for the financial year 2024/2025. The report provided an overview of the council's corporate complaints monitoring processes, including lessons learned from customer complaints and referrals to the LGSCO.

Lynn Smith, Customer Relations Manager, presented the report, which showed an 11.5% increase in formal Stage 2 complaints, with a total of 39 recorded. For context, the council handled 49,021 telephone contacts and 10,810 interactions via email, web, and face-to-face channels. Formal complaints represented 0.002% of total written or face-to-face interactions.

The report also detailed complaints by directorate and service area:

• Environment and Community: 17
• Finance and Customer Service (including Planning): 19
• Legal and Democratic Services: 2
• HR: 1

All Stage 2 complaints were acknowledged and responded to within the 10-working day standard. Of the 39 complaints, 25 were not justified, 11 were partly justified, and 3 were justified.

The committee discussed lessons learned from justified or partly justified complaints, including:

• Planning: Issues included a lack of response to a complaint email, omissions in managing planning applications, and failure to inform neighbours of a planning application. Actions taken included additional training for planning officers on case management and closer monitoring of compliance to procedures.
• Council Tax: Complaints related to enforcement agencies, rude behaviour from officers, and a lack of reasonable adjustments for disabilities. Actions included a review of accounts before sending debts to enforcement agencies, equality and diversity training for the team, and reminders about domestic abuse and its impact on economic vulnerabilities.
• Benefits: A complaint was made that the wording regarding Discretionary Housing Payment¹ (DHP) applications was unclear. Staff were reminded of the need for clarity in responses.
• Housing: Concerns were raised about a lack of updates on adaptations under Disabled Facilities Grants² (DFG). The service is now fully staffed, and the system will be checked monthly to ensure action is taken on all open cases.
• Leisure: Allegations of disappointing service and attitude from The Leisure Team regarding a boundary fence. The team was reminded of the impact of anti-social behaviour on individuals.
• Housing Enforcement: A complaint was made about bad service at a home visit and rude, discriminatory behaviour from a manager. The service has undertaken to ensure that Council Complaints Policy timescales are adhered to.
• JWS (Joint Waste Solutions): Complaints related to missed calls, early morning noise from bin crews, and broken bins. Amey³ was reminded of the importance of responsiveness to customers.

The LGSCO investigated and concluded 12 complaints and enquiries related to Surrey Heath Borough Council services in 2024/25. Two were not for the LGSCO, eight were closed after initial enquiries, and two were investigated and upheld. The LGSCO found that the council had provided a satisfactory remedy to one complaint before it was reviewed. No LGSCO reports have been published against Surrey Heath, and no service improvements were recommended.

The committee was asked to note the report and consider any comments or recommendations.

Work Programme

The committee agreed to the Work Programme as presented, which included the following topics for future meetings:

• Climate Change Strategy: Progress Monitoring Report (8 October 2025)
• Housing Needs, Social Housing & Temporary Accommodation (8 October 2025)
• Half Year Budget Monitoring Update (5 November 2025)
• Half Year Performance Update (5 November 2025)
• Draft Annual Plan 26/27 (21 January 2026)
• Budget Setting 26/27 (21 January 2026)
• Theatre, Heritage & Leisure update report (4 March 2026)
• Corporate Enforcement Plan (4 March 2026)
• Q3 Finance Monitoring reports (4 March 2026)