Agenda item

The Tenant Engagement Officer presented the report to the Board.

The Council was one of the first to be inspected under the new inspection regime and had received a C2 Grading (C1 the highest achievable, C4 the lowest).

One of the key areas of weakness identified by the regulator was Complaint handling – the Council needed to ensure the Complaint process was accessible, assess the outcome of Complaints in depth, recognise lessons learned, and where the Council had made changes to process and procedure ensure these were explained to tenants.

The Council had held 5 Locality Event Sessions July to August 2025 (the Bolsover Town session had proven especially busy).

The Sessions were delivered by the Complaints Team and the Tenant Engagement Officer.  23 tenants attended the various sessions, with the following covered:

·       Interactive exercises, including logging a Complaint online;

·       Definitions of a Compliment, Comment and Complaint;

·       Ways to log a Compliment, Comment and Complaint;

·       The process followed on receipt of a Compliment, Comment and Complaint;

·       The Ombudsman Service;

·       Service Improvements made following a Compliment, Comment and Complaint;

·       Performance; and,

·       Other ways tenants can provide feedback.

20 feedback forms were completed.

Comments on the events included: ‘very informative’; ‘will willingly attend more of these’; ‘lovely friendly discussions’; ‘really useful and informative’; ‘this was really good to gain further information on housing complaints etc[.]’; and ‘we found it very useful and informative, it was easy to understand and showing how to access it online was excellent’.

The outcomes detailed in the report covered:

·       the website (tenants commented there were too many web screens to click to log a Compliment, Comment and Complaint – tenants had suggested options that a link was available on the home screen and on menu options on self-serve);

·       barriers why tenants may not log a complaint (some of the reasons given, further detailed in the report, were why tenants might not want to make a complaint); and,

·       perception (there appeared to be a difference in tenants and the Council’s understanding of a service request versus a complaint).

It was highlighted to the Board the need for tenants to know the difference between a Service Request and a Complaint – if a formal Complaint was submitted, that tenant would receive a written response.

The Customer Service, Standards and Complaints Manager informed Customer Service officers would always offer the option to submit a Complaint (it was part of procedure, along with officers actively listening to tenants’ tones / choice of language).

The Deputy CEO (Dragonfly) left the meeting at 11:55 hours.

It was noted a change in use of language communicated by the Council might benefit tenants knowing the difference between a Service Request and Complaint – it was important for tenants to not feel sidelined.  The Customer Service, Standards and Complaints Manager agreed to investigate further.

The Deputy CEO (Dragonfly) retuned to the meeting at 11:58 hours.

The potential to reduce Complaint numbers could be to clarify what was / was not a Service Request.  The Customer Service, Standards and Complaints Manager noted Customer Services did attempt to de-escalate all situations.

Moved by Mr. Steve Bramley and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESVOLED that members of the Board review the findings of the Locality Groups