North Yorkshire Council

 

Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

10th March 2025

 

Housing Complaints Handling Update

 

Report of the Corporate Director Community Development

 

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

 

1.1         To provide an update to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the complaints handling performance within the Housing Service.

 

 

2.0       SUMMARY

 

2.1       Complaint handling is a critical component of effective service delivery. Complaints provide crucial insights into residents’ experiences which can help direct service improvement.  As both a landlord and the strategic housing authority, North Yorkshire Council need to be receptive to complaints to help build a greater understanding of residents’ priorities and areas of shortfall in our provision. Clear and transparent complaint handling is vital to ensure lessons can be learnt from outcomes.

 

2.2       As a social landlord our responsibilities around complaint handling are set out in legislation and codes of guidance. Effective complaints handling, and the accurate recording of this data are key requirements social housing landlords are required to adhere to under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code.  This legislation gave the Housing Ombudsman responsibility to monitor compliance with the complaints handling code.

 

2.3       As a social landlord a positive complaint handling culture supports the cultivation of a positive relationship with our tenants who can then trust us to respond to complaints in a timely manner. Being viewed as a proactive landlord who responds to tenant needs works towards North Yorkshire Council’s commitment to improving our tenant’s overall experience. Elected Members play a crucial part in this by challenging and scrutinising our complaints data.

 

3.0       BACKGROUND        

 

3.1       The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 requires social landlords to measure tenant satisfaction, complaints handling is included in this metric. This legislation gave the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code statutory power.  Therefore, there is a legal obligation for local authorities to comply with, and demonstrate their compliance, with this code.

 

3.3       The Housing Ombudsman provides a skeleton framework to which all social housing providers must adhere to, but it is up to the individual housing provider to decide the operational components of this framework to account for their service capacity.

 

3.4       As a result of NYC’s first self-assessment of compliance with that code the Housing Complaints Policy was updated June 2024, utilising the Housing Ombudsman’s framework to develop an improved policy.

 

3.5       As obligated by the Housing Ombudsman, North Yorkshire Council has a two stage complaints process. At Stage One, an acknowledgement will be provided within five working days, and a response within 10 working days detailing any resolution that may take place. Should a tenant be unhappy with their outcome, they can request for their complaint to be raised to Stage Two. At this stage, a response must be given within 20 working days.

 

4.0       COMPLAINTS PERFORMANCE

 

4.1       A complaint is defined as: ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.’ A tenant does not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as such.

 

4.2       Since the introduction of the revised complaints’ policy in June 2024 and the date of writing, the number of complaints received has steadily increased each quarter.  Between Q1 (prior and during the implementation of the new complaints policy) and Q3 (the most recent full data set), there has been a 25% increase in complaints. This increase has been in our Housing Revenue Account (Tenant) Services; Housing Management and Housing Standards. This could reflect the increased profile of complaints; we have written twice to tenants (May 2024, September 2024) outlining the complaints process and included details in the first tenant newsletter. Our tenants are actively participating in their tenancy, notifying us when our delivery has not met expectations.

 

4.3       Despite high complaint figures not necessarily being indicative of poor provision, 59% of complaints were either upheld (46%) or partly upheld (13%).  This is an 18% increase in the percentage of complaints upheld from the 23/24 year (50%). The increase in complaints received (see para 4.2), along with the increase in percentage of complaints being upheld is concerning and investigation into the content of complaints is needed to learn lessons and improve our provision.

 

Table 1: Breakdown of complaints received by service

 

4.4       As of 14 Feb 2025, of the total number of stage one and stage two complaints (385) received:

·           349 Stage One complaints and 36 Stage Two.

·           78% of complaints received originated from Harrogate (45%) or Selby (33%).

·           57% complaints were regarding Housing Standards. A complete breakdown of the specific services complaints were raised against can be found below.

·           Further to these cases, 14 cases were raised to the Housing Ombudsman and 6 cases raised to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

 

4.5       Of the complaints received, the main areas of dissatisfaction were:

·         Building fabric concerns (22%).

·         Time for repairs to be conducted (17%).

·         Housing Allocation Policy/Decision (14%).

4.6       71% of complaints raised had a root cause of service and care.

4.7       Only 9% of complaints progressed onto Stage Two, demonstrating the effective complaint handling by the Housing Team as tenants feel satisfied with a resolution to their complaint.  The low proportion of tenants requiring follow up investigation is indicative of the Housing Service’s ability to respond and resolve complaints to a satisfactory level, despite more complaints being handled by staff.

4.8       There has been an overall improvement in the time taken to resolve complaints within expected timeframes from April 2024 to Jan 2025. In April 2024, 54% of complaints were resolved within the target time, this has increased to 66% in January 2025.  Our complaints team, therefore, are handling a greater caseload of complaints (see para 4.2) and managing to resolve a greater number within expected timeframes. Additional resource has been allocated to the complaints team to deal with Stage One complaints and the data demonstrates that is having a positive impact on performance.

4.9       Despite the overall improvement in the time taken to resolve complaints, there is huge variation throughout individual months. The percentage of complaints resolved within timeframes varying from 47% in Nov 2024 to 81% in May 2024. The number of complaints received does not seem to impact this. More consistency in the time taken to resolve complaints is needed so we can provide a better, more consistent service.

4.10     The latest Tenant Satisfaction survey (Appendix B) was conducted during Quarter 3 2024/25. 308 responses were received (eight of these were returned incomplete). Nearly a fifth of those tenants (58) said they had made a complaint to North Yorkshire Council in the last 12 months (19%). Due to issues with data collection prior to 2024 it is difficult to say if this aligns with actual tenant numbers of Stage One complaints or if this also includes outstanding service issue requests which have been interpreted as complaints. It is also difficult to determine if this response is regarding tenant services or other issues which tenants may have complained to the Council about i.e. missed bin collections. Regardless, the number of tenants who have made a complaint to the council within the previous 12 months, has reduced slightly from 21% who said they had made a complaint in last year’s survey.

4.11     From the Q3 survey, 53% of tenants expressed dissatisfaction with our complaints handling, this is a 1% reduction on the previous survey. 30% of tenants are satisfied with NYC's approach to handling complaints, up marginally from 29% in 2023/24. The Council also used this opportunity to find out about the type of complaint. Some 37% of the complaints in Q3 24/25 are focused on the repairs service, with a quarter regarding ASB (25%).

4.12     It should be noted that the TSM measure is based on what tenants believe they have raised as a complaint, potentially across any council services and does not necessarily reflect actual housing complaint numbers.

5.0       OMBUDSMAND DETERMINATIONS AND CASE MANAGEMENT

 

5.1       Should an individual go through our complaints procedure and feel their complaint has not been resolved; they can raise it with the appropriate Ombudsman. Within Housing, this can be either the Housing Ombudsman (if the complaint is in relation to social housing) or the Local Authority and Social Care Ombudsman (any wider housing complaints).

 

5.2       During the year 24/25, 9 complaints have been raised to the Housing Ombudsman (HOS) of these, there are:

·           6 active complaints

·           3 closed (the date of first contact was within the 23/24 year, with the final decision being reached in the 24/25 year)

 

HOS reference number

 

Summary

Investigative stage

202320310

Tree roots under wet room floor, sewage works gets blocked causing raw sewage to enter wet room

Active

202343463

Antisocial behaviour and noise complaints 

Active

202346811

Concerns over not being able to sell property due to restrictive criteria

Active

202421003

Condensation and damp around windows in property, rusty pipe in toilet

Active

202421420

Overgrown tree in rear garden not maintained, security side gate not repaired, issues with access ramp for next door with communal access area

Active

202426545

Repointing of brickwork and lack of communication

Active

202229066

Quality of repair work to bathroom – bathroom was functional but was left with incomplete decoration

Closed – no maladministration

202302252

Damp and mould in property, outstanding repairs to bathroom

Closed – no maladministration

202316046

Handling of reports of leaking radiators, leaking roof and guttering, damp and mould following leaks and failings with complaint handling

Closed – maladministration found

Table 2: HSO summary of complaints

 

5.3       Of the cases closed, there were two findings of ‘no maladministration’ and one finding of ‘maladministration’. This finding of ‘maladministration’ was determined from the following:

·           Exceeding our 30 day timeframe to replace a radiator.

·           Took too long to conduct inspections of the property.

·           Lack of communication to the tenant.

·           Took 20 months to complete a damp inspection.

·           Complaints handling failures – did not respond to the complaint as specified within our complaints procedure.

 

5.4       During the year 24/25, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) requested additional information regarding 6 cases. Of these, none have been upheld or have been closed after initial enquiries.

 

 

 

LGSCO reference number

Summary of complaint

Outcome

24003206

Council’s lack of monitoring of energy improvement works

Not upheld: No Fault

24003884

Refusal of being granted ‘Gold Band’ status

Closed after initial enquiries – no further action

24006154

Problems with boiler since installation and not had sufficient response from Council

Closed after initial enquiries – out of jurisdiction

24014070

Complaint of lack of qualification to join HomeChoice as does not meet requirements of allocation policy

Closed after initial enquiries – no further action

24017948

Wrongly assessed priority need in relation to a homeless application

Closed after initial enquiries – out of jurisdiction

24013273

Council’s failure to compensate for damage and eviction cots following tenancy breaches (private housing)

Closed after initial enquiries: out of jurisdiction

            Table 3: LGSCO summary of complaints and outcomes received.

           

 5.4     The revised complaints policy facilitates continuous learning from our complaints, this is encouraged by the Housing Ombudsman. From the Ombudsman cases where fault has been recognised, the following lessons can be learnt:

·           More frequent communication with tenants is required, informing and updating them of any changes or delays.

·           Further emphasis on adherence to timescales set and take accountability for service requests to prevent a complaint becoming necessary.

 

6.0       CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES

 

6.1       Having an effective complaints policy aligns to two key council priorities:

·           Good quality, value for money services that are customer focused and accessible to all.

·           People are free from harm and feel safe and protected.

 

7.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1       Complaints which are not resolved to a satisfactory standard for the tenant can be progressed to the Housing Ombudsman.  This can have financial implications for the Council as we can be fined through compensation.  It is within the Council’s interest to action and resolve complaints quickly.

 

7.2       In the year 23/24, £1,800 has been paid through compensation from Ombudsman cases (data for the year 24/25 will be collected in July).

 

8.0       LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1       The implementation of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code has placed a legal requirement on all social housing providers to have an accessible and comprehensive complaints policy.  As part of this, providers of social housing must be able to evidence effective complaints handling.

 

8.2       Our responsibilities as a Local Authority housing provider means we are also bound to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman which covers all housing provision other than social housing.

 

8.3       Failure to comply with this legal obligation leads to maladministration claims.

 

9.0       EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1       Currently, our complaints procedure does not and is not developed to collect equalities data. Therefore, we cannot comment on any correlations between our complaints and tenant characteristics. This is a key area of improvement our system needs to be able to collect more extensive data about our tenants.

 

9.2       A new corporate complaints system has been developed which will collect equalities data, this is planned to be launched on 1 April 2025.

 

10.0     PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

 

10.1     Housemark is a national database of performance related data for social housing providers.  It provides a comparison between other housing providers based on HRA related complaints, allowing us to benchmark our performance.

 

10.2     According to their annual update, NYC performs similarly compared to housing providers of similar size, with an 80% maladministration finding (average for a Local Authority is 78%). Areas which have caused maladministration claims, thus our response to the following complaints require improvement:

·           Antisocial behaviour

·           Property condition

·           Complaints handling

 

10.3     Using Housemark data, NYC is improving its performance, becoming more in line with the median number of complaints housing providers receive each month. There has been a significant reduction (54%) in the number of complaints per 1,000 properties NYC received between Oct and Nov 2024. This has been maintained for Dec 2024 and has brought us in line with national average.

 

Year

Month

NYC result

Quartile 3

Median

Quartile 1

2024

August

6.55

3.0975

4.785

7.0775

2024

September

7.53

3.44

4.96

7.5

2024

October

9.77

3.7125

5.745

8.3625

2024

November

4.53

3.78

5.4

7.81

2024

December

4.2

2.8725

4.24

6.575

Table 4: North Yorkshire Council Stage One and Stage Two complaints received per 1,000 properties (Aug – Dec 2024)

 

10.4     The number of Stage One and Two complaints resolved within timescales has fluctuated considerably over the last 12 months. In November 2024, 47% of complaints were responded to within expected timescales whereas in December 2024, this figure rose to 74%. We are currently in Quartile 3 for the time taken to resolve complaints, so improvement is needed in this area. Of particular concern, is the degree of fluctuation within this data, greater consistency is needed to provide a more uniform service for our tenants.

 

Customer experience

Trend last 12 months

Previous month

Dec 2024

Quartile

Q3

Median

Q1

Formal Stage 1 and 2 complaints received per 1,000 properties

4.53

4.20

3

2.87

4.24

6.58

Stage 1 and 2 complaints resolved within timescale (%)

46.67

73.91

3

73.43

92.70

100.00

Table 5: Housemark data: the number of complaints received and resolved to timescale (Nov – Dec 2024)

 

11.0     CONCLUSIONS

 

11.1     Since the introduction of an improved complaints policy in response to the revised Housing Ombudsman Code, our complaints handling has improved. Despite the increased number of complaints, the Housing Team have been able to keep Stage Two complaints to a minimum. This suggests, although the number of complaints has increased, our response to and resolution of those complaints is being done satisfactorily in the majority of cases.

 

11.2     In terms of our tenancy services,the number of complaints and the percentage of complaints being upheld is increasing, we need to improve our service to meet tenant expectations. Though the number of complaints received is beginning to mirror the average number of complaints received per 1,000 across peer housing providers, continued improvement is needed to reduce the number of complaints upheld and meet our ambition to becoming an ‘exemplar social landlord’.

 

11.3     The continued low percentage (9%) of complaints that progress onto Stage Two (see para 4.7) can be viewed two ways; either a low number progress to Stage Two due to the effectiveness of our complaints handling, or a low number progress as tenants feel unable / unsupported to progress complaints to Stage Two after completing the Stage One process – this could be linked to the length of time taken to resolve complaints. It is only by surveying tenants once their complaint has been closed that we would start to get any feedback on this.

 

11.4     Compared to other housing providers, we fall within the lowest quartile in relation to complaints handling.  Of particular concern is the percentage of complaints not resolved to timescales; we need to ensure our complaints handling meet expectations and follow guidelines. When comparing data from the beginning of the 24/25 year, our performance is improving. However, more work is needed to ensure we provide a more consistent service for our tenants.

 

12.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

12.1     Part of our commitment to being a tenant focused landlord, it is good practice to report on our complaints data to help build a better picture of commonly reported complaints to establish patterns within the data to target service improvement towards.  It is important to provide the Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee with regular updates regarding this data and our complaints handling procedures to help guide this work.

 

 

 

13.0

 

13.1

RECOMMENDATION(S)      

 

The Committee are asked to consider the contents of the report and comment on the progress made along with the issues raised in this report with regards to possible improvements.

 

 

 

Nic Harne

Corporate Director – Community Development

County Hall

Northallerton

10 March 2025

 

Report Author – Kezia Cartwright, Service Improvement Officer

Presenter of Report – Vicky Young, Service Improvement Manager

           

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023

North Yorkshire Council Housing Complaints Policy

 

APPENDICES:

Appendix A – Housing Complaints Dashboard

Appendix B – Q3 Tenant Satisfaction Survey

 

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.