In a perfect world, councils would get things right every time, but officers are human and errors do occur. It is when things go wrong that complaints handling teams have the chance to prove they can make right a wrong - and show their real worth to the councils they represent. Complaints are also an opportunity to take stock, look at processes to find what went wrong and work out whether the problem is a genuine error or a wider, systemic failing. A recent Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigation involving a council's complaints-handling process has highlighted the importance of councils learning from their mistakes - and keeping their promises. In this case, the LGO has recommended that Derbyshire CC carry out a root and branch examination of its complaints process to make sure that the complaint we encountered does not happen again.
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