Agenda item

Sam Strong, Assistant Director - Homes and Neighbourhood, and Gary Penticost, Director of Operational Assets were in attendance to respond to Members’ questions and requests for clarification regarding the matters set out in the report.

In response to Members’ questions regarding the four consumer standards set out on page 16 of the agenda pack, it was acknowledged that there were issues with the complaints process, as per feedback from residents. Officers highlighted the importance of transparency and accessibility when dealing with residents and noted an increase in tenancy satisfaction measures over the last year, except in relation to the handling of complaints, which had only increased by 1%. They emphasised the importance of learning from complaints and referenced an ambitious restructure within the housing service, which included a member of staff responsible for complaint learning analysis to solve recurring issues.

In reply to further questions from the Committee, the need to improve the way the service put residents first was noted. It was confirmed that a lead for complaint analysis had recently been recruited and the importance of common sense in handling complaints was emphasised. Officers confirmed that staff were now required to call the complainant before writing a complaint response; this had resulted in a 1% increase in satisfaction. They expressed confidence in delivering better complaint handling the following year.

Councillors noted that eight cases had been upheld by the Ombudsman and enquired what lessons had been learned to reduce the number of upheld cases. It was confirmed that officers defined success as any percentage improvement in handling complaints and aimed for a 30% improvement the following year. Members heard that a restructure would increase frontline staff and improve accessibility to residents. Officers emphasised the importance of recording complaints accurately and learning from them.

Members referred to pages 31-33 of the agenda pack, which provided an update further to the Special Interest Group meeting held on 17 January 2025 and noted the feedback statements from residents. Councillors sought further clarification regarding the status of the action points and ongoing issues mentioned, including IT and telephone system problems. It was acknowledged that the 56-page document was a heavy-read, and it was agreed that future documents would be more accessible. Officers highlighted the recruitment of someone to lead the learning from the Special Interest Group and noted the importance of demonstrating outcomes clearly.

Councillors sought further clarification regarding deadlines for referring issues to other departments and the time frame for resolving them. It was noted that improvements to the NEC housing system could take some 6-8 months. Plans for improvement were being shared with the housing regulator and officers expressed confidence in delivering these improvements.

The Committee asked about the diversity of the 8 members of the Special Interest Group and whether it was representative of the entirety of the Borough. It was confirmed that representation from both the north and the south of  the Borough would be ensured.

In response to concerns raised by the Committee in respect of language barriers, it was confirmed that complaints could be handled in the complainant's language and the importance of responding to stage one complaints within 10 days was highlighted.

In respect of complaints handling training, it was acknowledged that training was essential and would be delivered within the next three months.

With regard to deadline extensions for stage 1 and stage 2 complaints, officers shared concerns about the validity of deadline extensions in some cases and mentioned efforts to reduce them. It was explained that complex complaints involving multiple services might require extensions and the importance of accountability was emphasised. It was noted that officers aimed to stop complaints from progressing to stage two whenever possible. The Committee heard that the deadline for a response to a stage two complaint was 20 days. 

Councillors enquired about compensation for complaints and quality control for contractors' work. The need for a clear housing compensation policy was acknowledged – this would be co-designed with residents. Officers explained that external contractors must provide photographic evidence of completed works, and tenant feedback was used to determine if inspections were needed. It was confirmed that contractors undertaking larger projects had to provide evidence of completed works, which was loaded into the system for a full evidence track. If tenants were unsatisfied, inspections were undertaken.

RESOLVED: That the Residents’ Services Select Committee:

1.    Commented on the data, learning and feedback captured by the Landlord Service during 2024/25 as set out in Appendix A of the Template Housing Complaints Performance & Service Improvement Report;

2.    Noted the Housing Ombudsman Service Guidance set out in Appendix B on ‘Effective involvement of governing bodies;’

3.    Noted the annual self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code set out in Appendix C; and

4.    Noted the updated Complaints Action Plan – Appendix D which was produced following the 2023/24 self-assessment against the Complaints Handling Code and published in June 2024.