North Yorkshire Council

 

Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

11 June 2025

 

Housing Performance, Complaint Handling and

Service Improvement Review

 

Report of the Corporate Director Community Development

 

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

 

1.1       To present to the Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee the annual review of performance, complaint handling and service improvement of North Yorkshire Council’s landlord services (Appendix A).

 

1.2       The report outlines the council’s performance as a landlord in both the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) and in compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, both of which are now statutory data returns.

 

1.3       Executive will be asked to consider the report and approve submission of the information within to the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) and the Housing Ombudsman as required.

 

 

2.0       SUMMARY

 

2.1       Throughout the 2024/25 financial year the housing service has been undertaking significant improvement work to both ensure the service is effective when delivering services to customers and also to ensure that it is aware of and able to meet its statutory, regulatory and legislative requirements; which have also undergone revision leading to greater reporting requirements from the services delivered through the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

 

2.2       In order to demonstrate compliance NYC is required to submit self-assessments of its performance in relation to the Tenant Satisfaction Measures and complaint handling. A single overarching report has been drafted to evidence this compliance alongside highlighting some other key areas of progress and further demonstrate compliance with the Consumer Standards.

 

3.0       BACKGROUND

 

3.1       As a requirement laid out within the Social Housing Act (Regulation) 2023 set out by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) and the Housing Ombudsman Service all social landlords must on an annual basis:

 

·         Undertake a review of customer satisfaction (Tenant Satisfaction Measures) using a prescribed survey defined by the RSH.           

 

·         Provide a report on complaint handling performance, including a self-assessment of compliance with the complaint handling code and outcomes of their complaints handling for the financial year.

 

 

4.0       HOUSING REVIEW 2024/25

 

4.1       The review document outlines the key successes and improvements achieved by the service, as well as performance data we are able to report at year end 2024/25 broken down over the following headings:

 

Compliance with the Consumer Standards

 

4.2       Following the creation of NYC in 2023 and a self- assessment against the new consumer standards for social housing a self-referral was made to the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) in May 2024 and a C3 Regulatory Judgement was subsequently issued.

 

4.3       Areas of non-compliance included a lack of reliable information about the condition of homes, a failure to meet aspects of landlord health and safety requirements, a lack of reliable information to support its understanding of and response to the diverse needs of its tenants and limited and inconsistent meaningful opportunities for tenants to influence and scrutinise services.

 

4.4       Throughout 2024/25 the service has dedicated significant resources to both fully understand the compliance position, both in terms of gaps in data and in service provision and to begin to make the required improvements. A root cause analysis was undertaken to understand the background to non-compliance, to ensure lessons are learned and sustainable improvements are implemented.

 

Performance Summary

 

4.5       Significant progress has been made in relation to understanding the performance of the Housing Standards and Landlord services functions. Bringing together performance data from legacy systems and contractors has been one of our biggest challenges. A key milestone in 2024/25 was the ability to baseline our performance information and begin to report on key data sets relating to compliance with ‘The Big 6’ health and safety requirements.

 

4.6       Supported by the Strategy and Performance Team, the Housing Service is now able to report performance to the Housing Improvement Board on a monthly basis, accompanied by a RAG rating on the confidence of the underlying data. The journey to be able to report this has been challenging and, as early conversations with the Regulator indicated, in some cases performance and assurance has reduced as we have delved to understand the metadata from legacy processes, systems and contractor arrangements.

 

4.7       The service is currently working intensively with the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) to improve its C3 rating and build assurance and confidence in the services it provides to customers, council members and wider stakeholders.

 

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)

 

4.8       The TSMs form part of the revised regulatory framework, with landlords required to survey customers on their perceptions of a variety of key services.  Across two stages (December 2024 and March 2025) a representative sample of tenants were invited to take part in a survey via telephone interviews.

 

4.9       The perception survey shows that in all but one indicator performance was improved from the 2023/24 survey, which is encouraging. Further work is required to analyse the satisfaction data to a more granular level.

 

 

4.10     Regarding the Repairs and Maintenance returns it should be noted that RP01 will again be a null return. This is because we do not have enough evidence to submit an assured return regarding compliance with the Decent Homes Standard. Progress in being able to submit this return has been made, a programme of stock condition surveys has commenced with a target to survey 100% of properties by September 2026. We do have interim target of 50% of surveys to be completed by March 2026 which we hope will enable a return to be submitted in 2025/26.

 

Complaint Handling

 

4.11     The number of complaints received is also a subject where performance has fluctuated widely over time and where recent months a degree of stability has occurred, driven by increasing standardisation of process and internal reporting.

 

4.12     North Yorkshire Council’s complaints handling performance is consistently ranked within the 3rd Quartile on HouseMark), with an average of 71% of our complaints being resolved within timescales.  Our complaint response performance has improved dramatically throughout the year as we have dedicated increased resource to the complaints team and improved and coordinated resource within the housing service to ensure that complaints handling is carried out collectively.

 

4.13     Improvements we have made to the classification of complaints has meant that we are better able to understand and report on trends. Live monthly updates on complaints data are provided to the Housing Extended Management Team and quarterly reports produced for the Housing and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

4.14     As a Housing Service we now have increased confidence in the way in which our complaints are handled and the data surrounding complaints handling can be used to inform our learning and service improvements

 

4.15     One key area we have built upon in 2024/25 is our ability to learn lessons from our complaints handling, both in terms of individual complaints handled and through wider trends and experiences of officers and tenants. We have conducted lessons learnt workshops with complaint handlers which have resulted in numerous recommendations, including the introduction of case conferences both during complex complaints and upon closure of complaints to ensure that any lessons are captured and improvements made as soon as possible.

 

4.16     We are required to conduct a self-assessment of our compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code annually. Our self-assessment shows that we are compliant with the code in most of the requirements. The two areas for improvement are clarification to the Housing Complaints Policy regarding complaints which are concerning third parties/ contractors and to improve our reporting of complaints which have been refused. These are relatively minor tweaks to internal processes which we can resolve quickly.

 

Service Improvement

 

4.17     2024/25 has seen a raft of changes to our Landlord Services, guided by the Housing Improvement Plan and supported by the council’s central services we have been able to make progress on a range of fronts. Crucially plans are in place and progressing to review our policies, processes and systems on a prioritised basis, focussing on tenant safety and compliance with the Consumer Standards and other legislative requirements.

 

4.18     To that end, in 2024/25, the service has prioritised harmonisation of the following:

 

·            Asset Management system (Planon)

·            Stock Condition Survey software (Mobiess)

·            Anti-social Behaviour Case Management system (REACT)

·            Allocations Policy

·            Tenancy Policy

·            Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

·            Neighbourhood Management Policy

·            Domestic Abuse Policy

·            Housing Complaints Policy

·            Repairs Standard

 

4.19     An Improvement Strategy has been developed, outlining the path that the service will take, not just to achieve compliance with the Consumer Standards but to ensure that the correct outcomes, performance measures and accountability are in place to monitor delivery of the service moving forward from crisis recovery into stabilisation, assurance and continuous improvement phases.

 

Tenant Involvement

 

4.20     The Annual Review summarises the improvements which have been made to the Tenant             Involvement structures throughout the year. Part of the Regulatory Judgement issued in               September 2024 highlighted that there was a lack of meaningful opportunities for tenants to          be involved in decision making. To address this a Tenant Involvement Strategy has been                  developed, putting in place the structures, processes and communication plan to ensure                     that tenants are informed and involved in service delivery.

 

5.0       ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

 

5.1       An alternative option, not to produce and annual review and not to submit the annual performance data and self-assessment of compliance with the complaint handling code is not recommended. Submission of the returns is now a statutory requirement.

 

6.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

6.1       There are no financial implications attached to this report and the Executive will not be expected to make financial decisions on its basis. Any financial considerations for improvements linked to the findings and analysis within this report will be presented though appropriate channels when required.

 

7.0       LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1       This report ensures compliance with the regulatory standards for housing alongside the requirements laid out by the Housing Ombudsman Service.

 

8.0       EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1       One of the key improvements we have identified is the need to improve our understanding of the diverse needs of our customers. The TSM perception survey methodology is based on a representative sample from different age ranges, gender and localities and further work will be undertaken to cross tabulated some of the variations in service satisfaction.

 

9.0       CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1       There are no climate change implications attached to this report.

 

10.0     PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

 

10.1     The report focuses on performance issues. The TSM regulations require reporting of customer satisfaction alongside KPIs attached to compliance with safety requirements; whilst the complaints self-assessment details how the authority has managed customer complaints in terms of the timeliness of responding to customers; outcomes and Ombudsman determinations. 

 

11.0     POLICY IMPLICATIONS

 

11.1     As identified one of the major challenges facing the service pertains to the alignment of services into one integrated service operating through clear and consistent policies and procedures. The HRA Policy Framework has been agreed, setting out the key policies and procedures to be harmonised and the priority in which they will be tackled.

 

12.0     RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

12.1     This review identifies areas of improvement and non-compliance; consequently, it will have a likely impact on both the reputation of the council and the performance of the service. It is hoped that by maintaining transparency through this process any reputational risks can be effectively managed by the authority being open and honest about its current status and the steps it plans to take to improve.

 

12.2     In order to better manage and mitigate the risks posed a number of initiatives have been introduced. The first is a ‘Housing Improvement Framework’ which ensures sufficient oversight and scrutiny of performance and activity to align services and the second is a comprehensive action plan that addresses the key areas of non-compliance with the Consumer Standards.

 

13.0     CONCLUSIONS

 

13.1     This report and its appendices provide the second annual review into the performance of the housing service. The report provides an overview of the key successes and challenges faced as we progress with our improvement journey and an honest appraisal on the current service. During the 24/25 financial year the team has worked tirelessly to bring the legacy services together and much of this work has focussed on establishing a consistent and clear baseline from which management decisions can be taken. It is expected that as the 2025/26 year progresses improvements should become far more noticeable for customers alongside generating far greater confidence from the regulator in regards to the improvement plans and their impact.

 

14.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

14.1     This report details the end of year position for the landlord services as required under its regulatory requirements, as such the report and its associated appendices should be accepted as a true and accurate statement relating to the service and therefore should be published as required.

 

15.0

 

RECOMMENDATION(S)

 

15.1

It is recommended that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive the report with attention drawn to those areas where a ‘null’ return will be submitted and note any comments they would like to pass to the Executive in advance of their consideration of the report on 17th June 2025.

 

 

 

Nic Harne

Corporate Director Community Development

County Hall

Northallerton

 

30 May 2025

 

Report Author – Vicky Young, Service Improvement Manager

Presenter of Report – Andrew Rowe, Assistant Director Housing

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None

 

APPENDICES:

Appendix A – North Yorkshire Council Housing Services Annual Review 2024/25

 

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