Agenda item

To inform the Growth & Regeneration Scrutiny Panel on the position with regards to complaints handling within Homes & Neighbourhoods.

Contact:  Michelle Anderson-Dore, Head of Partnership, Homes and Neighbourhoods, Robert Scott, Partnership Strategic Manager

Cllr Crook introduced the item advising the Panel that the report provides an update on the position with respect to complaints handling performance within Homes and Neighbourhoods, as well as measured outcomes in terms of the tenant satisfaction measures.  This is to align with the new requirements on complaints handling for social housing landlords and the updated Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code, which was published on 8^th February 2024, and requires statutory compliance by the 1^st April 2024. Ahead of April, a review is needed to identify where the Council remains compliant with the change and work is needed to ensure ongoing compliance.  Following implementation, regular self-assessment will be required, and the results will be published annually along with the tenant satisfaction measures. 

From 1^st April, the Ombudsman, has to monitor performance on complaints handling and compliance and homes and neighbourhoods could be inspected on the consumer standards at any time from then. Feedback from this Scrutiny Panel is very much welcomed to support ongoing improvement in tenant satisfaction.

This report also provides a contemporary update on complaints handling which shows that overall numbers are up on the previous period, however this forms part of a more complex picture with response times continuing to improve.  The number of cases referred to the Ombudsman has also increased slightly, however remains low and with no severe maladministration findings.  There is an opportunity to interrogate this data in detail to learn from trends and to improve both broader services, and complaints handling.

Michelle Anderson-Dore, Head of Partnerships informed the Panel that there is a new regulatory framework in relation to complaints handling, however, in terms of background from December 2020, all social landlords, including Kirklees Council, were mandated to undertake a self-assessment to measure performance in terms of complaints handling.  That was against the original Housing Ombudsman Complaints Code.

In 2022, also in line with the Complaints Handling code at the time a new complaints handling strategy was published and that was with support from the Housing Quality Network that included a new policy updated the compensation procedures to ensure it was fully in line with the code.

The latest version of the code becomes statutory from April 2024,  and work is now ongoing to ensure that all mandatory requirements are met, which will align with the new inspection regimes which will follow from April, led by the Regulator for Social Housing.

The latest consultation that informed the new code was launched last September and concluded in February.  Initially, during the consultation there was proposals around a joint code for local authorities which was joining the Housing Ombudsman Code and Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Code.  The government has moved away from a joint code and the focus is now on alignment where possible with both codes and that will be effective from 2026.

This will be useful for local authorities because it will support the Council’s longer term aim to have one corporate approach in how complaints are handled in whatever aspect of local authority business.

As part of the new regulations, an annual self-assessment will be completed, and the first one will be submitted by June 2024, as part of the submission of the tenant satisfaction measures and this will be published and will be in the public domain from autumn.  It is a measure that will ensure that there is consistency across the sector in how complaints are reported.

The complaints handling does form part of the new consumer standards, in particular the transparency, influence and accountability consumer standard, which is about the voice of the tenant and the opportunities and accessibility for tenants as customers to be able to tell their landlord how they are doing.

The Panel was referred to section 2.2.3 of the report which provided a summary of complaints handling performance for January to December 2023, and advised that there were 979 formal complaints which was a 100% increase on the previous year.  The primary reasons for that is  a lot more work is undertaken to make tenants aware of their ability to complain. The Ombudsman has also been doing its part in making tenants aware nationally, about complaints as a way of telling their landlord how they are performing.

The top three reasons for complaints in Kirklees during 2023 were:

1)    49% poor information supplied (no clarity on when works will be carried out

2)    27% lack of communication (e.g failure to keep in contact)

3)    24% Further work required/repair not worked

Last year, despite a lot of good work, 60% of complaints were upheld, which means that there is still a lot more work that needs to be done to improve tenant satisfaction and drive up standards. Because if complaints have been upheld, that is saying the tenants are right. 

Last year the Housing Ombudsman made three maladministration determinations against the Council. There have been no severe maladministration which are the ones that have to be made public, and  where there is a major hazard or risk of significant harm, negligence or incompetence.

Robert Scott, Partnership Strategic Manager, informed the Panel that over the last 18 months, from a complaints handling perspective, a great deal of work has  been undertaken in Homes and Neighbourhoods to ensure compliance with the code.  There is work that needs to be done to address the number of complaints that have been upheld and to improve services.

One of the key things since the code was introduced, is the need to move away from tackling the volumes of  complaints to addressing why complaints are being made.  In essence reducing the number of complaints in the first instance, and preventing the escalation to stage one, stage two and even to the Ombudsman and provide more clear timescales of when action is to be taken and prevent timescales drifting.

As the new code is introduced in April there will be a new suite of training for managers, investigating managers and staff to ensure they are aware of the requirements around the code and the policy and also in terms of learning from complaints.

The way information is gathered is also changing, from next week data gathering will be different to help to focus in on the themes of what people are complaining about.  There is a need to align the approach with the 500 pinnacle properties as the Council is still the landlord, as any judgement will be against the Council as the landlord.

In response to the information presented, the Panel made comments and asked questions including some of the following:

-          Is it possible to get information that shows the trends?

-          In respect of the training that will be provided as the new code comes out, it was mentioned that the training would be with managers, what advice and training will be given to the frontline staff who are dealing with the tenants one-on-one.

RESOLVED:

That Michelle Anderson-Dore and Robert Scott be thanked for providing an update on complaints handling in Homes and Neighbourhoods.