You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Two councils under investigation by ombudsman for complaint procedure failures
Two local authorities in London are under investigation by the Housing Ombudsman for failing to comply with the watchdog’s new complaint-handling failure orders.
In a report released today, the ombudsman confirmed that it issued 10 complaint-handling failure orders, which are part of the new powers given to the ombudsman last year, in the first three months of 2021.
All social landlords have complied with these orders except for Lambeth and Enfield councils, which means they are now within the ombudsman’s formal remit for investigation.
Since January this year, the Housing Ombudsman has had the power to issue complaint-handling failure orders in circumstances where a landlord is failing to comply with the ombudsman’s new Complaint Handling Code.
“The purpose of complaint handling failure orders is to ensure that a landlord’s complaint handling process is accessible, consistent and enables the timely progression of complaints for residents,” the ombudsman’s report said.
READ MORE
To date, the ombudsman said it has issued the orders either because of “unreasonable delays” in the landlord progressing the complaints process, or because of delays in providing complaints information requested by the ombudsman.
In the case of Lambeth Council, the ombudsman said: “Following numerous requests for the landlord to respond to the complaint an order was issued. This was not complied with and we decided the case had exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure.”
In the case of Enfield, the ombudsman said the council did respond to the order, but this was outside the date of compliance.
“Due to non-compliance we decided that the complaint had exhausted the landlord’s complaints process and is now in our formal remit,” the ombudsman said.
An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to the resident affected by this matter. Enfield Council takes complaints very seriously and we are working to improve our processes to ensure they are resolved more effectively going forward to avoid a repeat of this occurrence.”
The new orders are part of wider changes to the Housing Ombudsman scheme that were first implemented last year and were laid out in the government’s post-Grenfell Social Housing White Paper.
These changes include the new Complaint Handling Code, which landlords are required to self-assess themselves against.
The ombudsman has also begun publishing the details of cases it has determined on its website, alongside data on individual landlords’ complaint volumes, categories and outcomes.
Richard Blakeway, housing ombudsman, said: “It is crucial residents are listened to when they make a complaint and that landlords’ procedures are focused on timely resolution, not putting residents off complaining or a series of stages in order to reach the ombudsman.
“Our code sets clear expectations for efficient, effective and accessible complaint-handling and we issue orders where landlords fail to meet them. These orders can now be made whilst the complaint is still within the landlord’s procedure. In most cases where we issued handling failure orders, the landlord responded well and sought to resolve the complaint, making clear the benefit of these orders to earlier resolution.
“However, it is disappointing that in two cases landlords did not comply, and we have taken these complaints into formal investigation. We received some really positive feedback from residents about the difference these orders have made to their experience of the complaints process, and I hope this report will promote transparency, accountability and learning across the social housing sector.”
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “We have noted that Ombudsman’s finding and will cooperate fully with any further investigation as we seek to rectify the issues raised.”
