Handling and Learning from Customer Feedback and Complaints Review

​Complaints about the Government of Jersey covers a wide range of services and departments that are intended to provide feedback to government to improve the overall service to members of the public.  The way an organisation handles complaints is important. There are significant benefits to doing things well, including providing valuable information about weaknesses in programmes of work, policies and service delivery and stimulating improvement. Reassuring the public that the organisation is committed to resolving problems; and enhancing accountability and transparency.

In July 2020 the C&AG published a report Handling and Learning from Complaints which reviewed the development and implementation of the Government-wide Customer Feedback Policy.  In summary this review found that the Government had taken important steps and invested in a sound approach, but that more work was required to secure consistent handling of and learning from complaints. The C&AG made 19 recommendations for improvement, all of which were accepted by the Government of Jersey.

Later in 2020 the C&AG published Management Information in Education – Follow Up (August 2020).  In this review C&AG found that the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department (CYPES) did not keep a central record of complaints that were dealt with by schools.  This meant that there was no evidence-based alert for CYPES that something may be causing concern either within a school or across a number of schools.   The C&AG recommended that a mechanism be established to share information between schools and CYPES on the number, type and outcomes of complaints.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in March 2022 published it's Performance Management Review. In this review PAC found that a more co-ordinated approach to customer feedback and complaints handling across Departments had been implemented. However, it noted that two major Departments (Health and Education) have implemented their own mechanisms to capture 'customer' experience and deal with complaints. Ministers are able to disregard the findings of the States of Jersey Complaints Board or fail or refuse to implement its findings.  The PAC made 2 recommendations relating to complaints in its report, that was presented to the States Assembly in March 2022 of which the government accepted.

In October 2023, the C&AG published a report titled "Handling and Learning from Complaints - Follow Up", assessing progress on 19 recommendations from the C&AG's July 2020 report and one from the August 2020 report on Management Information in Education. The   C&AG highlighted the government's significant efforts to update the Customer Feedback Policy since 2020, though inconsistencies in its adoption across departments persist. Additionally, while processes for monitoring compliance have been developed, they are not yet fully effective. Improvements in the quality of customer feedback information and its analysis have been noted but focus remains on complaint handling mechanics rather than on learning from complaints. No comprehensive action plan exists to ensure easy customer feedback on public services. The Quality Assurance Framework audit revealed that only 39% of complaints were acknowledged within the SLA target time, complaint closures exceeded the SLA by an average of 32 days, and just 7.5% included an improvement action. Despite expanded Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), public information remains undeveloped, and more transparency is needed. The review concluded that 14 of the 20 relevant recommendations have been implemented, five partially implemented, and one not implemented.

Key issues

The Review will seek to address the following key issues:

1.         To understand and assess the current complaints process and systems in relation to Government but also the Complaints Panel and Police Complaints Authority.

2.     Follow up on previous recommendations made by the C&AG and PAC in respect to the Government complaints process and systems.

3.     To evaluate the extent that standardised corporate procedures to support the implementation of the Customer Feedback Policy, Customer Feedback Management System have been introduced.

4.    To understand and evaluate to what extent all customers of public services are equally enabled, encouraged and supported to provide feedback, including complaints.

5.    To understand the rationale why CYPES and Health and Community Services (HCS) data is not included in the overall government data around complaints.

Please note that the Handling and Learning from Customer Feedback and Complaint review cannot address or resolve individual customer feedback or complaints.

​The Public Accounts Committee has launched review on 19 September 2024. It will write to the Interim Chief Executive and Chief Officers of Government and Non-Ministerial Departments for information as well as a number of key stakeholders. It will be seeking further views and arranging public hearings later on in the year. 

1. To identify and assess the overall implementation of Government of Jersey Policies in relation to handling and learning from customer feedback/complaints in respect of (but not limited to):

• The Government-wide Customer Feedback Policy.
• The measuring and evaluation of customer feedback/complaints processes.
• How customer feedback/complaints are managed by Government departments (including CYPES, HCS).  
• How customer feedback/complaints are managed by non-Government department bodies including (but not limited to) the Police Complaints Authority and States of Jersey Complaints Panel.
• The Customer Feedback Management System.
• The use and effectiveness of the introduced single online reporting system. 
• Training and staff development in respect of handling customer feedback/complaints.
  

2. To assess whether the systems are user friendly for members of the public and determine whether members of the public have trust and confidence in customer feedback/complaints processes.
   

3. To identify and analyse the effectiveness of the Customer Feedback/Complaints systems within the Government of Jersey and how learning from customer feedback/complaints is implemented and improvements are evidenced. 
   

4. To identify and analyse the effectiveness of the Customer Feedback/Complaints systems within the Government of Jersey in terms of achieving value for money.
   

5. To examine the implementation of relevant PAC and Comptroller and Auditor General recommendations in respect of handling and learning from complaints by the Government of Jersey and identify any progress made in achieving implementation of those recommendations.