Agenda item

RESOLVED that the Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report and annual self-assessmentagainst the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, be approved.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Housing, which provided an overview of the complaints received for the Housing Service during 1^st April 2023 to 31^st March 2024.

The report also presented the Council’s performance against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code in the form of the Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report.

The Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, after a period of consultation, became a statutory requirement from 1^st April 2024, with the Housing Ombudsman having a duty to monitor compliance with the Code. In addition, the Regulator for Social Housing had also, after a period of consultation, published its new set of consumer standards and regulatory approach to deliver a “well-governed social housing sector”, which provided quality homes and services for tenants, also effective from 1^st April 2024. All Registered Providers were expected to meet the standards.

The Housing Ombudsman intended to monitor compliance with the Code by way of an annual submission. This would ensure that all landlords provided information in a consistent way that allowed effective analysis and insight into compliance with the Code.

The required documents needed to be submitted by 30^th June 2024, and this date aligned with the Regulator of Social Housing’s requirements for the publication and submission of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) outcomes, of which complaint handling was included.

The Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report 2023-2024, was attached as an appendix to the report and provided an analysis of the complaints and compliments received by the Housing Department for the period 1^st April 2023 – 31^st March 2024 and included the services delivered on behalf of the Council by Dragonfly Management (Bolsover) Ltd. It also noted the performance against the Council’s own Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy, which during 2023-24, had different time frames to the Ombudsman. This was updated in April 2024, so were both now aligned.

The Assistant Director Housing Management and Enforcement circulated a proposed ‘Forward’ to Members to be included in the Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report 2023-2024.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that: 1) the Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report 2023-2024, and Annual Self-Assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code be approved,

2)    the proposed ‘Forward’, circulated at the meeting, to be included in the Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report 2023-2024, be approved.

Reasons for Recommendation

It was a statutory requirement that the Council complied with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, and the requirements to provide an annual submission, including an Annual Complaint Handling and Service Improvement Report, and annual self-assessment.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

If the Council was unable to provide the annual submission by 30^th June 2024, the Council may be issued with a Type 3 Complaint Handling Failure Order. If there was non-compliance with the order, the Housing Ombudsman had the option of making a referral to the governing body or the Regulator of Social Housing as required.