Decision details

Councillor A Arif introduced the report to approve the annual complaints performance and service improvement report for scrutiny as required by The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) Complaint Handling Code highlighting that complaint volumes increased significantly during 2025/26 (188 Stage 1 complaints compared with 62 the previous year), reflecting improved accessibility and a stronger culture of encouraging residents to raise concerns.

Councillor Rydeheard raised concerns around the poor customer service aspect and queried what the additional training was and how processes have been streamlined.

Sian Grant, Director of Housing, confirmed that a number of training sessions had been held with teams including how to respond to complaints, how to investigate complaints, and keeping records.  We have also completed dip samples of responses to ensure we are addressing the complaints effectively. 

Councillor Rydeheard queried whether there was an issue with record keeping.  The Director of Housing confirmed there were historical issues with the housing system and training has been provided to support staff with keeping records up to date.  Also ongoing work looking at upgrading the housing management system to make it more user friendly.

The Leader also advised that we have also done some work to look at what is a complaint and what should be classed as a service issue.

Councillor Rydeheard queried why a decision hadn’t been taken to upgrade or change the housing system beforehand and was advised that once the housing service was brought back in house, upgrades and modifications have been made,

Councillor Birchmore queried the number of people who stated the council were not easy to deal with in terms of complaint handling and whether any reasons why were identified.

Sian Grant, Director of Housing confirmed that more research was completed.  There wasn’t a particular cohort that found us easy/difficult to deal with.  On review, we found that if a complaint was not upheld they were less likely to be satisfied with the service.

Councillor A Arif confirmed that work is ongoing to improve tenant engagement with the aim of more tenants voices being heard.

Decision(s):

Cabinet

-       Noted and approved the Annual Complaints Performance and Learning Report 2025/26 for publication and submission to the HOS.

-       Approved the self-assessment against the Complaints Handling Code for submission to the HOS and publication.

-       Noted the learning, service improvements and actions identified to further strengthen complaint handling performance and compliance with the Complaints Handling Code.

Reasons for the decision(s) 

-       The HOS Complaints Handling Code requires landlords to undertake an annual self-assessment of compliance and publish both the assessment and an annual complaints performance and learning report. Consideration by Cabinet demonstrates appropriate oversight, transparency and accountability, whilst supporting the Council's commitment to learning from complaints, improving services and delivering positive outcomes for tenants and leaseholders.

Alternative options considered and rejected

-       The publication of an annual self-assessment and complaints performance and learning report is a requirement of the HOS Complaints Handling Code. Failure to do so would reduce transparency and could result in noncompliance with the Complaints Handling Code and HOS expectations.