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Ombudsman
complaints fall to new low
THE number of complaints
made about Liverpool City Council to the Local Government Ombudsman
(LGO) has fallen to a new low. In her annual letter to the
city council, Anne Seex reveals there were 138 enquiries in 2011/12.
This is down from 171 the previous year, and compares to 228 in
2005/6. She investigated 66 cases - compared to 71 in 2010/11
which is down from a high of 213 in 2005/6.
The data shows Liverpool has the joint lowest number of
investigations per 100,000 population among the big 'core' cities,
at just 14. Of the 66 cases investigated, a total of just 19
were deemed to need remedying - compared to 71 in 2005/6.
There was only one case of maladministration, in April 2011, when
the council paid compensation to a disabled service user for delays
in installing a shower. Since then, a review has taken place, new
safeguarding procedures have been introduced, a new contract has
been awarded for domiciliary care and more stringent compliance
procedures are in place. Complaints about this service have dropped
by almost 80 percent since 2007/8.
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Paul Brant, said:- "We are a big
organisation providing services to every single resident and when we
get things wrong we are committed to investigating and putting
things right. It is reassuring that the overall trend of
referrals to the Local Government Ombudsman is continuing to come
down. I think that is because we have a well established procedure
for investigating complaints and when we reach a judgement it is
fair. But we are not complacent and are absolutely determined
to make sure we do our utmost to provide a good quality of service
which people are satisfied with, and learn lessons when things go
wrong."
The council's record in responding to LGO enquiries is also the best
among the big 'core' cities at 18.2 days, compared to 28.7 in
Sheffield, 33.4 in Bristol and 30.8 in Manchester.
The council dealt with 4,332 complaints during 2011/12, down from
4,705 in 2010/11. The figures show that 98 percent were resolved
through the Have Your Say procedure and only two percent ended up
being referred to the LGO.
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£10.7m
fundraising target for Southport residents
A cancer charity is
appealing for 150 people in Southport to help it raise over £10.7m -
by drinking coffee and eating cake. Last year 100 people
hosted coffee mornings, raising a total of around £19,000. Howvever,
Macmillan Cancer Support wants this year's World's Biggest Coffee
Morning to be the biggest ever.
The charity is hoping more coffee mornings will take place across
the Ormskirk area, to raise a total of £25,000. Across the UK
Macmillan hopes to raise a massive £10.7m from the event, beating
its £10m total from last year.
One of Macmillan's fundraising managers for the Merseyside area,
Grace Higgins, said:- "Last year we raised a record-breaking
amount of money form the World's Biggest Coffee Morning and we
really hope we can repeat that again this year. I think it's a
mark of how much people love this event that every year it gets
bigger and bigger. People can be so busy, that catching up with
friends, workmates or even family can be difficult. This event
gives them a reason to make time for each other while also doing
something really valuable for people with cancer and their
families."
The money raised from the World's Biggest Coffee Morning is used to
fund services such as the cancer information and advice centre in
Southport at the Community Service Station.
While the event has traditionally involved people having
straightforward coffee mornings, people in Southport have expanded
the event to include wine-tastings and quiz nights.
Fundraiser Grace Higgins believes the flexibility of the event is
another reason it's so successful. She said:- "We give
all our hosts a fundraising pack and lots of ideas but whether they
choose to have a coffee morning on the official event day, a
cocktail evening at the weekend or a quiz event the week after is up
to them. All we want is for people to do something they enjoy
with people they want to spend time with while raising some money
for Macmillan. Sadly the number of people being diagnosed with
cancer is increasing every year and that means Macmillan's support
for people living with cancer is in more demand than ever.
Every pound raised by those taking part in events like World's
Biggest Coffee Morning helps us be there for someone with cancer
when they need us most."
The official World's Biggest Coffee Morning day is on 28 September 2012.
To find out more about the event visit:-
macmillan.org.uk/coffee or call:- 0845 602 1246 |
