Posted: Friday 5 February 2010

PCCS publishes first complainant’s satisfaction research report

John McNeill, the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland (PCCS) is to take a twin pronged approach to addressing areas of concern highlighted in its first independently conducted complainant satisfaction survey published today (5 February 2010).
Click here to read full report

The PCCS was set up in 2007 to consider and review the way police authorities, police forces and policing agencies handle complaints from the public. Since its launch PCCS has handled over 700 enquiries and complaints about Scotland's police and has published over 130 full complaint handling reviews.

The survey was commissioned by PCCS to examine

• satisfaction with the service provided
• awareness and understanding of the police complaints handling procedures and the review role of the PCCS

An external research company Cello mruk carried out an initial telephone survey of 115 people who had contact with PCCS since its inception. This was followed up by a further in-depth interview with a group of 20 to obtain a more detailed understanding of their experiences and views.

Only by listening to and acting on the feedback from people can we improve the service. We have already made a number of quick wins, including the introduction of a sift to identify cases that are ready for review and which have yet to complete the police investigation stage and a complete redesign our report layout and content. Other issues coming out of the survey are around a better understanding of what the Commissioner can do and when; there is clearly a big piece of work to be done in this area.
_{John McNeill, Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland}

Key Findings

Who did we talk to?

• the majority of respondents (almost 80%)  had not previously complained about the police
• over three quarters were male
• 58% of all complainers (male and female) were aged 45 or above
• 4% of respondents came from an ethnic minority background
• nearly one third (31%) progressed to a full Complaint Handling Review and of these, more than half (51%) said PCCS did not uphold their complaint. 

At the time of the survey an additional number of respondents did not yet know the outcome of their review.

What did they say?

On their views and experiences on PCCS service:

satisfaction with the initial stage information and contact with staff was high:  

• 80% felt the information was very or fairly clear
• 67% felt that the process was adequately explained to them to feel confident in submitting an application

• 77% felt that the staff were 'nice and helpful' and were 'more than happy as staff spelt out what the Commissioner's powers were and the limitations'.

satisfaction amongst respondents who continued with their application was also high 

• 64% on the regularity of updates

• 75% received updates in their requested format

satisfaction was lower amongst those complainants who proceeded to a full review: 

• 37% were satisfied with their case officer overall
• almost half (47%)  were unsatisfied with the ease of access to information throughout the review with similar levels of dissatisfaction at the time taken to complete the review and with the published Complaints Handling Review. Specifically 42% felt the Report did not provide a full explanation
• 42% were unsatisfied with the effort invested in the process.
• when complainants were also asked what they wanted to achieve when they first contacted PCCS, the most frequently sought outcomes were: 
• an independent investigation 42%
• complaint re-investigated 21%
• officers punished 21%
• an apology 18%
• service improvement 10%. 

The survey showed that even although some respondents claimed they understood the role and remit of PCCS, they still seemed to be looking for an independent investigation. The scope of the Commissioner's remit is governed by the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006. The Commissioner undertakes a review of the manner in which a relevant complaint has been dealt with and  may, following his review recommend that the police themselves conduct further investigations, order a reconsideration by another force or authority, carry out service improvements or make an apology. 

The decision on whether the complaint was upheld or not was also evidently a significant contributory factor to their satisfaction with how their case handling review was progressed, whether they felt PCCS was impartial (40% did not), and the final outcome, where most (53%) were unsatisfied.  

This is a position that PCCS has in common with other oversight organisations. Whilst it is understandable that complainants will be more satisfied if they feel they have achieved their outcome, all aspects of the complaint require to be rigorously reviewed and it is therefore the Commissioner's duty to do so in a manner that everyone involved can trust that his decision although they may not agree with it, is fair and impartial. 

On their awareness and understanding of both the police complaints handling arrangements and the PCCS review role:

• close to a quarter heard about the PCCS from the police, with a similar number learning of the PCCS through the internet
• almost half (46%) who learned of PCCS from the police, felt that they did not well explain the PCCS review role, with only a limited proportion (17%) receiving this information when they first complained to the police
• this leads to more than half (57%) of complainants feeling that their understanding of the PCCS review process was fairly or very bad at this initial stage. Importantly, the analysis has shown that there is a link between complainants' initial understanding and their satisfaction with the outcome of the PCCS review
• more than a third (39%) were not confident that PCCS would treat their enquiry fairly before making their application. 

What have we done and what will we do?

Improving the service to PCCS applicants

Satisfaction levels were highest at the initial stages of contact with PCCS and remained high in relation to how well they were kept informed. Satisfaction rates fell amongst those complainants who proceeded to full review, with just under half being dissatisfied with the time taken to complete the review and over half being dissatisfied with the final outcome. In response the PCCS has:

• revised the complaints handling process - which aims to reduce the overall time it takes to deal with applications
• within the revised complaint handling process introduced a formal 'sift' process to identify at an early stage cases that do not fall within the Commissioner's remit and will not be proceeded with
• applied 'Plain English' standards to the  Application Form

• made the complaint handling review report easier to read and understand

Improving awareness and understanding of police complaints handling arrangements and the PCCS role

The survey feedback revealed that most respondents heard about PCCS and police complaints handling either through the internet or directly from the police and they felt that initially the process was not well explained. In response PCCS has: 

• redesigned its website and revised the explanatory information on the scope of the Commissioner's powers.  
• put plans in place to continue to make further improvements particularly to make our website more accessible to people of differing abilities.
• reviewed police websites and how accessible and informative they are in relation to complaint procedures leading to individual force improvement programmes (http://www.pcc-scotland.org/assets/0000/0532/Dec_09_User-focused_assessment_report_FINAL.pdf)
• embarked upon a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy which is explained at http://www.pcc-scotland.org/about/our_connections
• commenced the process of re-designing its internal leaflets and other communication materials that clearly explain the PCCS role, responsibilities and practices.
• working with other stakeholders and redesigned the national 'Complaints About the Police' leaflet for imminent publication.

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