Scrutiny reigns on council complaints

Cllr Graeme Clark, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems in Brentwood now chairs the scrutiny committee. He said:

"There were some key decisions made at my committee. One was to deal with the complaints process. The complaints statistics are very light and members, especially Cllrs Chilvers and Morrissey, were concerned that staff had a fear of referring them to the formal complaints process and were, instead, trying to contain things within their own department.

"Well, without the intelligence that comes from learning from when things go wrong we can't assess if departments need extra resource, training or apparatus.

So, we moved that there would be an amnesty for staff to refer any open complaints into the process without fear of reprisals.

"Surprisingly, this common sense idea was supported by the Conservatives. I hope they find the support of their leader!