Agenda item

The Customer Standards and Complaints Officer presented the report to the Board.

 

20 Compliments had been received in Quarter 4 2025/26 (1^st January 2026 to 31^st March 2026) – Housing Repairs and Maintenance) had received the most Compliments, followed by Housing Allocations.

 

As shown throughout 2025/26, whilst Housing Repairs and Maintenance had also featured under Complaints, a tenant’s personal experience of the service appeared to influence their bias in their response to the Council.

 

Compliments for Housing Repairs and Maintenance involved:

 

·       Friendly, polite and approachable behaviour from operatives;

·       Professionalism consistently demonstrated;

·       Operatives going above and beyond to support residents / delivering excellent work;

·       Clear explanations and helpful communication;

·       Clean and tidy working practices;

·       Care taken with customers’ homes and belongings; and,

·       Positive experiences across multiple operatives and repairs.

 

Compliment themes for Housing Allocations included:

 

·       Exceptional or outstanding service;

·       Professionalism;

·       Support provided during stressful or difficult situations; and,

·       Kind, caring and supportive behaviour.

 

5 Comments had been received in the same period – 100% were acknowledged and passed to their respective department within the target time of 5 working days.

 

Comments were split equally between Housing Repairs and Maintenance, Property Services and Tenancy Management – no themes could be derived from this data.

 

4 M.P. Enquiries had been received in the same period. It was believed information provided to the M.P.’s Office had led to a reduction in M.P. Enquiries overall as constituents were being appropriately advised of the action required (and dealt with) through other Council processes (i.e. as a service request / first enquiry).

 

Enquires were split equally between Housing Allocations, Housing Options, Housing Repairs and Maintenance, and Tenancy Management – no themes could be derived from this data.

 

18 Stage 1 Complaints were recorded in the same period, with 100% responded to within the Council’s customer standard and the Housing Ombudsman Code of 10 working days

 

Housing Repairs and Maintenance had received the most Stage 1 Complaints, followed by Grounds Maintenance and Housing Allocations.

 

Complaint themes for Housing Repairs and Maintenance included:

 

·       Dissatisfaction with repair work;

·       Delays and outstanding repairs;

·       Poor communication about repairs;

·       Reports of damp and mould;

·       Concerns about overall property condition.

 

For Housing Allocations, most Complaints related to the handling of housing cases / applications when instances of damp and mould were present.  Grounds Maintenance themes included overgrown / poorly maintained areas and a lack of action to tackle issues.

 

3 Stage 2 Complaints were recorded in the same period, with all responded to within the Council’s customer service standard and the Housing Ombudsman Code of 20 working days.

 

Most Stage 2 Complaints were for Housing Repairs and Maintenance, with the only themes derived related to damp and mould and housing applications to relocate.

 

No Ombudsman Complaints were reviewed during this period.

 

Service improvements included:

 

1.     Going forward, staff would ensure that if a call needed to be terminated, the caller was clearly informed of the reason and was given a warning before the call ended;

 

2.     In the future, the Repairs Admin team would liaise with the Finance department to ensure a cancellation invoice was sent from either department; and,

 

3.     The Street Scene Co-ordinator had added a shrubbed area of the communal garden to their maintenance schedules to ensure work was carried out annually.

 

The Council would continue reviewing the data at the Department Service Reviews to explore themes and discuss any improvements which might not have been reported.

 

Most Compliments were made via telephone, followed by post.  Stage 1 Complaints were mostly made via email followed by telephone, while Stage 2 Complaints were only made via email.

 

Analysis of method of contact over the past year had shown a shift to telephone / email over the more long-standing use of post / letter.

 

It was found that tenants had submitted 100% of the Compliments, Comments, Complaints and M.P. Enquiries for Quarter 4 2025/26, with no submissions received from residents – a result from a change in reporting practice introduced at the start of 2025/26.

 

It was noted only tenancy-related cases would now be included to align the Council’s reporting with Housing Ombudsman expectations – non-tenancy housing enquiries or wider resident contact would be counted in the dataset.

 

Quarter 4 2025/26 data showed a slight reduction in overall customer contact  compared with Quarter 4 2024/25, with small decreases across all categories – overall the dataset indicated a stable pattern of engagement, with a marginally lower volume of customer interactions while maintaining consistent service trends.

 

Customer contact remained broadly consistent across all Quarters of 2025/26 – further details were provided in the report.

 

It was noted Quarter 4 2025/26 Compliment themes for Housing Repairs and Maintenance and Housing Allocations were consistent with Quarters 1 – 3 of 2025/26: professionalism, helpfulness, communication, and positive customer experience.

 

Complaint themes in Quarter 4 2025/26 were also consistent with Quarters 1 – 3 of 2025/26, particularly for Housing Repairs and Maintenance: delays, communication concerns, damp and mould, and repair quality.

 

Examples of Compliments and Complaints were detailed in the report.

 

The Board was additionally informed that on the 19^th March 2026, the Council had received its first policy review from the Housing Ombudsman – 9 recommendations had been identified.

 

The Housing Ombudsman would review the Council’s response to recommendations through the next annual submission deadline – 30^th September 2026.

 

Examples included:

 

1.     For the Policy to be clearer so that if the landlord decided not to accept a Complaint, the resident would be informed of their right to take the decision to the Ombudsman;

 

2.     For the Policy to be clearer that when a Complaint response would fall outside of extended timescales, the landlord would agree suitable intervals with the resident for being updated on their complaint; and,

 

3.     Ensure exclusions were fair and reasonable and consider additional wording around the outcome of HR involvement not being shared.

 

A Tenant reiterated a recommendation from a previous meeting that different representative graphs be utilised to help identify trends between quarters and highlight circumstances such as Housing Repairs and Maintenance receiving both the most Compliments and Complaints (being a forward facing service).  The Customer Service, Standards and Complaints Manager noted this could be reviewed.  The Customer Standards and Complaints Officer informed the Senior Repairs Co-Ordinator had stated this might prove difficult but it continued further investigation.

 

Moved by Mr. Steve Bramley and seconded by Mr. Kevin Kavaliunas

RESOLVED that members of the Board review the overall performance on Compliments, Comments and Complaints handling performance as detailed in the report.

 

 

The Customer Service, Standards and Complaints Manager and Customer Standards and Complaints Officer left the meeting at 11:03 hours.