Housing complaints performance and service improvement annual report 2023/2024
Section 1 - Housing Ombudsman - Complaint Handling Code
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 empowers the Housing Ombudsman (HO) to issue a code of practice about the complaint handling procedures that social landlords should have in place. It is also the HO's responsibility to monitor compliance with the complaint handling code.
One requirement of social landlords is to self-assess against the complaint handling code, identifying any area of non-compliance.
The self-assessment was carried out with a focus group of tenants and leaseholders in 2023/24.
We are making minor updates to the council's complaint's policy and to the training guidance we provide officers in response to our self-assessment.
The council has also appointed a Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC) who is the Portfolio Lead for Housing. The MRC is plays a key role for ensuring that complaint handling drives service improvement for residents.
In addition, the council has a senior lead officer who is accountable for complaint handling. This is the Service Director for Housing Strategy and Commissioning.