Issue - meetings

Purpose of report

To present Cabinet with the 2024/25 Annual Complaint Performance and Service Improvement Report and self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code which the Council was required to publish and submit to the Housing Ombudsman.

Decision

Cabinet noted the report and were encouraged to provide any further feedback prior to the submission deadline of 30 September 2025.

Alternative options considered and rejected

To not present the report and self-assessment to Cabinet for their feedback but the Council would then not meet the Housing Ombudsman’s requirement that the information was considered by the governing body.

Reasons for the decision

To provide Cabinet with the opportunity to provide feedback on the 2024/25 Annual Complaint Performance and Service Improvement Report and self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code prior to submission to the Housing Ombudsman.

It was difficult to obtain historical data about complaints. There were no ‘root causes’ going beyond the previous 2 years.

The report also included summary information from the Housing Ombudsman Landlord Performance report, including a reduced number of housing complaints, and a reduction in time taken to respond to housing complaints.

Since September 2024 all stage 1 housing complaints had been responded to on time, as had all stage 2 complaints.

All recommendations from ombudsman have been actioned, which included amendments to the Council’s Feedback Policy. The Cabinet Member for Housing held monthly meetings with officers in housing to see where further improvements could be made in responding to complaints.