Independent Complaints Reviewer to the National Archives Annual Report 2005-2006
Seeking a fair resolution
Contents
Who is the Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR)
Jodi Berg was appointed as the Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) for The National Archives (then the Public Record Office) in 2000. She is also ICR for Land Registry, the Charity Commission and the Housing Corporation and is Independent Case Examiner for the Child Support Agency and the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency. Jodi Berg is a solicitor, a Magistrate and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Foreword
I am pleased to present my annual report as Independent Complaints Reviewer for The National Archives. This year has been another quiet year as far as complaints about The National Archives are concerned. Indeed, I had only received one referral before the year end, and can again commend the Agency for being able to resolve nearly all concerns to people's satisfaction. Once again this demonstrates that complaints are handled efficiently and effectively, so that very few people indeed have need of our service.
Recently, The National Archives has renewed its commitment to the ICR process, which gives dissatisfied customers an opportunity to refer their complaints to someone independent of management. This demonstrates the Agency's willingness to be held to account for the way in which it responds to people's concerns and supports its ongoing efforts to improve customer service.
As ICR I focus my attention on the way in which The National Archives responds to complaints and the lessons that can be learned from them. The relationship between The National Archives and my office has always been co-operative. I recently met with the new Chief Executive Officer, Natalie Ceeney, and I look forward with confidence to continuing this constructive working relationship.
This report provides information about my office and explains how we go about our work. It also offers an independent perspective on The National Archives' complaint activity and customer service initiatives during the reporting year. I hope that you will find it interesting and informative.
Role of ICR
The role of the ICR and her office is to offer an independent complaint review and resolution service, which is free to customers of The National Archives (TNA).
What we do
Before a complaint can be referred to ICR we expect TNA to have had an opportunity to look into matters itself. People can ask the ICR to look into matters if they are unhappy with its response. We look into complaints about poor service, including:
- mistakes;
- delays;
- poor/misleading advice;
- staff behaviour;
- failure to follow procedures;
- unfairness;
We are unable to look into complaints that:
- have not had a final response from TNA itself;
- have not been referred to us within six months of that final response;
- concern matters of law or Government policy;
- are being considered within legal proceedings; or
- have been or are being investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
To let people know about our service, information about ICR is included in TNA's own complaints handling literature. In addition, every final response to a complaint written from or on behalf of its Chief Executive Officer must tell people about their right to refer their complaints to the ICR.
We try to make access to our service as easy as possible. To help people contact us and explain why they are doing so, a simple complaint referral form is available on our web site at www.icrev.demon.co.uk and at the back of our leaflet "Seeking a Fair Resolution - The Role of the Independent Complaints Reviewer". However, we also accept referrals by telephone or in writing.
Referral to the ICR does not take away the right to ask a Member of Parliament to refer a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if people wish to do so following the ICR's review. More information can be obtained about the ICR office and other complaint handling schemes, including the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, by visiting the British and Irish Ombudsman Association website at www.bioa.org.uk.
Looking into complaints
Advice and assistance - Our advice and assistance role is an area of growing importance in the settlement of complaints. People may not know what to expect on first contact with the ICR office, and it is important to promote confidence in their choice of referring their complaint to ICR. We try to identify quickly any issues that we are unable to investigate, for example, matters concerning legislation, and advise on the alternative remedies that might be sought. This explanation from an independent source can help to demystify the situation and resolve concerns without further ado.
Investigation - Once we have accepted a referral, a member of the Investigations Team contacts the customer to ascertain what they consider the complaint issues to be and what outcome they are looking for. We confirm the issues in writing. We then usually contact TNA to discuss the possibility of finding an agreed solution to the problem.
- If we are unable to resolve matters this way, we undertake whatever further investigation is required to reach a view on what has happened. The ICR then issues a report of her findings for the complainant and TNA. The report details her conclusions in respect of each element of the complaint and explains the reasons for them. It may include recommendations for redress to be given by TNA, such as an apology from its Chief Executive Officer; specific action to put matters right; or a consolatory payment (up to £5,000).
Listening to what our customers tell us - We welcome people's views and actively try to improve the way we do things in response. We value this contribution to our service, which is an integral part of our efforts to give the best service possible to customers. We obtain feedback in several ways. In particular, we routinely issue satisfaction surveys, following the issue of reports.
Working with The National Archives to make a difference
A key aspect of the ICR's work is helping The National Archives to learn from complaints. The benefits of independent review include:
- settlement of complaints which cannot be resolved by TNA itself;
- support for good service;
- constructive criticism;
- insight into the Agency's service from the customer perspective;
- the opportunity to learn from other organisations.
In addition, the Independent Case Reviewer identifies areas of concern to customers, which are then brought to the attention of TNA highlighting problem areas of practice or process. This can be through a specific recommendation on an individual complaint or by raising a more general issue with its Chief Executive Officer.
ICR overview of the year
During the reporting year the customer activity handled by The National Archives has remained high. Reader visits reduced by 7.5%, but remain impressive, as over 260,000 people have travelled to either the Family Records Centre in London or to Kew. TNA has responded to an increase of over 80% in telephone enquiries, now nearly 150,000 calls, matched perhaps by a decrease in the volume of letters received to less than 40,000, over 43% less than the previous year, suggesting that customers prefer access via the website or by speaking directly to staff.
Against this backdrop of activity, which clearly has the potential to generate a significant amount of dissatisfaction, TNA's Public Services Development Unit received 68 formal complaints, compared with 50 the previous year. This figure represents those complaints that are recorded within TNA's internal complaints procedure, but excludes the day to day concerns raised by TNA customers which are settled 'on the spot' by TNA staff. Although this represents an increase in formal complaints, it remains a remarkable achievement by any standards and this is yet another consecutive year where I have been able to report on such an excellent performance.
Following response from TNA only one complaint was referred to my office. This referral was received in March 2006 and our investigation is ongoing.
TNA is committed to improving the service it delivers to its customers and has actively pursued ways to increase access to its services and products. The redesign of its website in 2004, which included the introduction of digitalised records and a 'shop on line' feature, has had a growing impact on customer interaction. Just a few examples of this are;
- customers purchased 255,040 images of documents on line;
- 187.5 million web page impressions were recorded, (that is the number of pages downloaded by customers);
- an increase in the number of contact and feedback forms completed electronically (these allow the user to be put in touch 'first time' with those best able to help with their enquiry).
In line with TNA's commitment to learn from customer feedback and complaints, TNA has improved the communication between its complaints handling team and its various departments. This has helped TNA to identify issues early on and take action before problems arose. The following are examples from the User Feedback Report to the Management Board:
- The announcement in June by the Registrar General of England and Wales of the digitisation of birth, deaths and marriage registration records, and the production in India of an electronic index could have resulted in protests to TNA from people confused by the distinct identities and roles of the two organisations. In preparation, links were established between TNA's Complaints Officer, the Press Office and the General Register Office/Office for National Statistics, to facilitate an appropriate response to complaints.
- In Early July, press attention was drawn to the revelation that certain documents relating to Himmler were forged. This was anticipated to attract further interest from the media and the public. Prompt liaison between the Press Office, the Web Team, Contact Centre staff and Reader Advisors ensured that those likely to receive enquiries on this subject were well briefed and able to give authoritative, consistent and helpful replies to those enquiries.
- Similar proactive steps were taken in August, in anticipation of possible adverse reaction to the decision of the QinetiQ to sell the 1901 census venture to Friends Reunited.
Each of the above examples demonstrates that TNA anticipates potential problems and tries to prepare an Agency wide settled approach to enquiries and or complaints arising from announcements or changes. Good communication is always the key to good customer service and I welcome this active engagement with issues of this kind.
Whilst I am able to give information on formal complaints received by TNA, I have no corresponding data on compliments. This is because there is currently no accurate record kept of this important customer interaction. This is disappointing because it does not support staff by making them aware of the regard in which they are held by customers, nor does it support the continuance of good practice.
For this reason, I am pleased to report that TNA's CEO has now taken steps to ensure that this information is recorded centrally, allowing accurate data to be provided in future years. Perhaps more importantly, compliments will be electronically accessible to staff and some will be published monthly on TNA's Intranet. Staff named by customers will receive personal congratulations in recognition of their achievements. I will monitor the response to this initiative during the coming year.