Complaint handling code self-assessment
How a complaint is defined
Code section | Code requirement (from the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code) | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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1.2 | A complaint must be defined as: 'an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf,affecting an individual resident or group of residents'. | Yes | Corporate Complaints and Compliments Policy: A complaint is defined as the concern or dissatisfaction of a customer regarding the service, action or lack of action taken by the Council. Customers are not necessarily required to quote the words complain or complaint in order for the Council to recognise their dissatisfaction as a complaint. A complaint is not a request for service, information or an explanation of Council policy or practice. Complaints will also not be accepted about formal decisions taken by committees or those delegated to staff, where there is an existing right of appeal or where there is active or pending legal action. A customer is able to complain if they believe the Council has not followed its process correctly, these are complaints regarding the process the Council has undertaken and are not about a decision that it has made. |
1.3 | The resident does not have to use the word 'complaint' for it to be treated as such. A complaint that is submitted via a third party or representative must still be handled in line with the landlord's complaints policy. | Yes | The policy includes clear reference to accepting complaints from third parties that are authorised to act on the customer's behalf. Responses to these complaints will be issued directly to the authorised party. Anonymous complaints will not be accepted. |
1.4 | Landlords should recognise the difference between a service request, where a resident may be unhappy with a situation that they wish to have rectified, and a complaint about the service they have/have not received. | Yes | Detailed in the policy. |
1.5 | Survey feedback may not necessarily need to be treated as a complaint, though, where possible, the person completing the survey should be made aware of how they can pursue their dissatisfaction as a complaint if they wish to. | Yes | Insight surveys where carried out are reviewed monthly and respondents contacted where feedback is negative or where dissatisfaction/comments made. |
1.6 | ...if further enquiries are needed to resolve the matter, or if the resident requests it, the issue must be logged as a complaint. | Yes | Detailed in the policy. |
1.7 | A landlord must accept a complaint unless there is a valid reason not to do so. | Yes | The policy outlines that a complaint is not a request for service, information or an explanation of Council policy or practice. Complaints will also not be accepted about formal decisions taken by committees or those delegated to staff, where there is an existing right of appeal or where there is active or pending legal action. |
1.8 | A complaints policy must clearly set out the circumstances in which a matter will not be considered, and these circumstances should be fair and reasonable to residents. | Yes | See above other than where complaint made anonymously. |
1.9 | If a landlord decides not to accept a complaint, a detailed explanation must be provided to the resident setting out the reasons why the matter is not suitable for the complaints process and the right to take that decision to the Ombudsman. | Yes | The policy outlines where it is a service request and that contact is logged and recorded as such and request actioned. |
Accessibility and awareness
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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2.1 | Landlords must make it easy for residents to complain by providing different channels through which residents can make a complaint such as in person, over the telephone, in writing, by email and digitally. While the Ombudsman recognises that it may not be feasible for a landlord to use all of the potential channels, there must be more than one route of access into the complaints system. | Yes | Complaints to the Council can be made in the following ways:
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2.2 | Where a landlord has set up channels to communicate with its residents via social media, then it should expect to receive complaints via those channels. Policies should contain details of the steps that will be taken when a complaint is received via social media and how confidentiality and privacy will be maintained. | Yes | Our policy acknowledges this and requests that all complaints received via the Council's social media channels should be forwarded to complaints@great-yarmouth.gov.uk. |
2.3 | Landlords must make their complaint policy available in a clear and accessible format for all residents. This will detail the number of stages involved, what will happen at each stage and the timeframes for responding. | Yes | The policy is published on our website. A summary of the complaints process is regularly shared with tenants through the newsletter. |
2.4 | Landlord websites, if they exist, must include information on how to raise a complaint. The complaints policy and process must be easy to find on the website. | Yes | Our website includes information on how make comments, complaints and compliments. |
2.5 | Landlords must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and may need to adapt normal policies, procedures, or processes to accommodate an individual's needs. Landlords must satisfy themselves that their policy sets out how they will respond to reasonable adjustments requests in line with the Equality Act and that complaints handlers have had appropriate training to deal with such requests. | Yes | All policies are subject to an approval process including assessment against equality. |
2.6 | Landlords must publicise the complaints policy and process, the Complaint Handling Code and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme in leaflets, posters, newsletters, online and as part of regular correspondence with residents. | Yes | The complaints policy is published online. News and Views (tenant magazine) includes articles about complaints. All Housing Ombudsman thematic reviews and calls for evidence are promoted/shared on the Council website. |
2.7 | Landlords must provide residents with contact information for the Ombudsman as part of its regular correspondence with residents. | Yes | All complaint letters include reference to the Housing Ombudsman where applicable. Information on the website includes contact details for the Housing Ombudsman. |
2.8 | Landlords must provide early advice to residents regarding their right to access the Housing Ombudsman Service throughout their complaint, not only when the landlord's complaints process is exhausted. | Yes | Reference to Housing Ombudsman included within Stage one and Stage two complaint responses. |
Complaint handling personnel
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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3.1 | Landlords must have a person or team assigned to take responsibility for complaint handling to ensure complaints receive the necessary attention, and that these are reported to the governing body. This code will refer to that person or team as the complaints officer. | Yes | Complaints are managed by the Corporate Services Team. |
3.2 | The complaint handler appointed must have appropriate complaint handling skills and no conflicts of interest. | Yes | Formal complaint training is being scheduled to ensure all complaint handlers have up to date understanding of best practice in complaint handling. |
3.3 | Complaint handlers should:
| Yes | Our policy outlines our approach to empowering complaint handlers. |
Complaint handling principles
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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4.1 | Any decision to try and resolve a concern must be taken in agreement with the resident and a landlord's audit trail/records should be able to demonstrate this. Landlords must ensure that efforts to resolve a resident's concerns do not obstruct access to the complaints procedure or result in any unreasonable delay. It is not appropriate to have extra named stages (such as 'stage 0' or 'pre-complaint stage') as this causes unnecessary confusion for residents. When a complaint is made, it must be acknowledged and logged at stage one of the complaints procedure within five days of receipt. | Yes | Policy includes statement on response within five days. Upon receipt of complaint into the complaints@great-yarmouth.gov.uk email box an acknowledgment of the complaint will be issued to the complainant within five working days. |
4.2 | Within the complaint acknowledgement, landlords must set out their understanding of the complaint and the outcomes the resident is seeking. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, the resident must be asked for clarification and the full definition agreed between both parties. | Yes | All complaints are acknowledged with timescales. Further training is required of complaint handlers to ensure there is a consistent approach to stating in complaint responses what the complaint is and the outcome being sought. |
4.6 | A complaint investigation must be conducted in an impartial manner. | Yes | Policy outlines approach. |
4.7 | The complaint handler must:
| Yes | Outlined in policy statement under complaint investigation. |
4.11 | Landlords must adhere to any reasonable arrangements agreed with residents in terms of frequency and method of communication. | Yes | This is agreed as part of the process of investigation and responding. Policy outlines how we are able to feedback according to the preference of the complainant. |
4.12 | The resident, and if applicable any staff member who is the subject of the complaint, must also be given a fair chance to:
| Yes | The process is clear that complaints are investigated impartially and residents are able to engage in the complaint process. |
4.13 | A landlord must include in its complaints policy its timescales for a resident to request escalation of a complaint. | Yes | Timescale for escalation is six months; if the issues raised are not satisfactorily resolved at this stage the customer can escalate their complaint to a (Stage 2 or Stage 3) complaint, any escalation must be submitted within 6 months of the Stage 1 or 2 response. |
4.14 | A landlord must not unreasonably refuse to escalate a complaint through all stages of the complaints procedure and must have clear and valid reasons for taking that course of action. Reasons for declining to escalate a complaint must be clearly set out in a landlord's complaints policy and must be the same as the reasons for not accepting a complaint. | Yes | Policy outlines the escalation process and where complaints are not accepted. |
4.18 | A full record must be kept of the complaint, any review and the outcomes at each stage. This must include the original complaint and the date received, all correspondence with the resident, correspondence with other parties and any reports or surveys prepared. | Yes | The Council has a policy setting out a standard set of conditions and a framework for complaint handling within the Council. |
4.3 | Landlords should manage residents' expectations from the outset, being clear where a desired outcome is unreasonable or unrealistic. | Yes | Assessed as part of complaint investigation on case-by-case basis. |
4.4 | A complaint should be resolved at the earliest possible opportunity, having assessed what evidence is needed to fully consider the issues, what outcome would resolve the matter for the resident and whether there are any urgent actions required. | Yes | Complaint process outlined in policy. |
4.5 | Landlords should give residents the opportunity to have a representative deal with their complaint on their behalf, and to be represented or accompanied at any meeting with the landlord where this is reasonable. | Yes | Complaints are accepted on behalf of a tenant. Complaint's from third parties who are authorised to act on the customers behalf will be accepted; responses to these complaints will be issued directly to the authorised party. Anonymous complaints will not be accepted. |
4.8 | Where a key issue of a complaint relates to the parties' legal obligations landlords should clearly set out their understanding of the obligations of both parties. | Yes | Outlined in responses. |
4.9 | Communication with the resident should not generally identify individual members of staff or contractors. | Yes | Part of response process. |
4.10 | Landlords should keep residents regularly updated about the progress of the investigation. | Yes | Part of response process. |
4.16 | Landlords should seek feedback from residents in relation to the landlord's complaint handling as part of the drive to encourage a positive complaint and learning culture. | Yes | A new insight survey survey will be introduced in 2023. This is also asked as part of regular perception surveys (STAR and Tenant Satisfaction Measures). |
4.17 | Landlords should recognise the impact that being complained about can have on future service delivery. Landlords should ensure that staff are supported and engaged in the complaints process, including the learning that can be gained. | Yes | Learning outcomes are captured and where possible improvements are made and training provided. |
4.19 | Any restrictions placed on a resident's contact due to unacceptable behaviour should be appropriate to their needs and should demonstrate regard for the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. | Yes | The Council has a policy that addresses how we deal with abusive, persistent or vexatious complaints. |
Complaint stages
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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5.1 | Landlords must respond to the complaint within 10 working days of the complaint being logged. Exceptionally, landlords may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when the response will be received. This should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. | Yes | Policy states that responses to Stage 1 complaints will be issued within 10 working days of the complaint being received for social housing residents. Other council complaints are 15 days. |
5.5 | A complaint response must be sent to the resident when the answer to the complaint is known, not when the outstanding actions required to address the issue, are completed. Outstanding actions must still be tracked and actioned expeditiously with regular updates provided to the resident. | Yes | In accordance with timeframes all responses outline any agreed action and when this will occur. We are improving our processes for keeping tenants informed of outstanding actions at the point a formal complaint response is provided. |
5.6 | Landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate. | Yes | Complaint investigations and responses will address all elements of a complaint where this is possible, whether are a significant number of elements to a complaint, the themes of these will be considered and the complaint investigation will ensure all themes of the complaint are addressed. |
5.8 | Landlords must confirm the following in writing to the resident at the completion of stage one in clear, plain language:
| Yes | Responses meet the points outlined. |
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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5.9 | If all or part of the complaint is not resolved to the resident's satisfaction at stage one it must be progressed to stage two of the landlord's procedure, unless an exclusion ground now applies. In instances where a landlord declines to escalate a complaint it must clearly communicate in writing its reasons for not escalating as well as the resident's right to approach the Ombudsman about its decision. | Yes | Complainants are able to escalate the complaint to a further stage and the Council may also escalate straight to Stage 2. The Corporate Services Manager has the discretion to decide to escalate a complaint straight to Stage 2 of the complaint process should the complaint be of sufficiently serious nature to warrant this. |
5.10 | On receipt of the escalation request, landlords must set out their understanding of issues outstanding and the outcomes the resident is seeking. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, the resident must be asked for clarification and the full definition agreed between both parties. | Yes | Guidance on responding to complaints in place. |
5.11 | Landlords must only escalate a complaint to stage two once it has completed stage one and at the request of the resident. | Yes | Policy states that Stage 2 complaints occur when a customers initial complaint has not been resolved to their satisfaction at Stage 1 and the complaint therefore requires further investigation by a different person. |
5.12 | The person considering the complaint at stage two, must not be the same person that considered the complaint at stage one. | Yes | Policy states that complaints will be considered at service level and answered by the Head of Service providing they have not been actively or directly involved in the initial complaint or response. Where this is the case, the compliant will be passed to another Head of Service to answer. The Head of Service must review the response provided at Stage 1 and conduct any further investigation required into the customers case. |
5.13 | Landlords must respond to the stage two complaint within 20 working days of the complaint being escalated. Exceptionally, landlords may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when the response will be received. This should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. | Yes | Policy states that Stage 2 and Stage 3 complaints may require a more in-depth investigation and therefore responses will be issued within 20 working days of the complaint being received. |
5.16 | Landlords must confirm the following in writing to the resident at the completion of stage two in clear, plain language:
and
| Yes | Responses meet the points outlined. |
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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5.17 | Two stage landlord complaint procedures are ideal. This ensures that the complaint process is not unduly long. If landlords strongly believe a third stage is necessary, they must set out their reasons for this as part of their self-assessment. A process with more than three stages is not acceptable under any circumstances. | No | The Council uses a three stage process that links to the structure and wider Council services for consistency. The three stages are outlined within the policy with clear escalation routes and timeframes. |
5.20 | Landlords must confirm the following in writing to the resident at the completion of stage three in clear, plain language:
| Yes | This is part of three stage letters reflecting a template for use. |
Putting things right
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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6.1 | Effective dispute resolution requires a process designed to resolve complaints. Where something has gone wrong a landlord must acknowledge this and set out the actions it has already taken, or intends to take, to put things right. | Yes | The Council's aim is to resolve the majority of issues as early as possible and preferably even before they reach a (stage one) complaint. However, it is acknowledged that this may not always be possible. |
6.2 | Any remedy offered must reflect the extent of any service failures and the level of detriment caused to the resident as a result. A landlord must carefully manage the expectations of residents and not promise anything that cannot be delivered or would cause unfairness to other residents. | Yes | All remedies offered are based on each individual case and the impact of any resolution is considered from a wider perspective and included within any learning from complaints. |
6.5 | The remedy offer must clearly set out what will happen and by when, in agreement with the resident where appropriate. Any remedy proposed must be followed through to completion. | Yes | See above. |
6.6 | In awarding compensation, a landlord must consider whether any statutory payments are due, if any quantifiable losses have been incurred, the time and trouble a resident has been put to as well as any distress and inconvenience caused. | Yes | Compensation is decided on a case-by-case basis. |
6.3 | Landlords should look beyond the circumstances of the individual complaint and consider whether anything needs to be 'put right' in terms of process or systems to the benefit of all residents. | Yes | All learnings are recorded and actioned. |
6.7 | In some cases, a resident may have a legal entitlement to redress. The landlord should still offer a resolution where possible, obtaining legal advice as to how any offer of resolution should be worded. | Yes | This is part of the process. |
Continuous learning and improvement
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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7.2 | Accountability and transparency are integral to a positive complaint handling culture. Landlords must report back on wider learning and improvements from complaints in their annual report and more frequently to their residents, staff and scrutiny panels. | Yes | An annual report will be provided to Cabinet on complaint handling, including Ombudsman cases and outcomes. |
7.3 | A member of the governing body should be appointed to have lead responsibility for complaints to support a positive complaint handling culture. This role will be responsible for ensuring the governing body receives regular information on complaints that provides insight to the governing body on the landlord's complaint handling performance. | Yes | The Senior Performance and Data Protection Officer overseas the complaints process. There is an identified Cabinet Member for complaints. |
7.4 | As a minimum, governing bodies should receive:
| Yes | Six monthly reports are to be provided to the Council's Executive Leadership Team and the Cabinet Member responsible for the Housing Assets Service following the establishment of new Regulatory Compliance Board in relation to:
In addition annually, the following will be reported:
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7.5 | Any themes or trends should be assessed by senior management to identify potential systemic issues, serious risks or policies and procedures that require revision. They should also be used to inform staff and contractor training. | Yes | Service Managers input and maintain learning from complaints. Themes are also to be formally reported to the newly established quarterly meetings of the Regulatory Compliance Board |
7.6 | Landlords should have a standard objective in relation to complaint handling for all employees that reflects the need to:
| Yes | Policy outlines approach. |
Compliance
Code section | Code requirement | Comply (Yes/No) | Evidence, commentary and any explanations |
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8.1 | Landlords must carry out an annual self-assessment against the code to ensure their complaint handling remains in line with its requirements. | Yes | Self assessments are regularly carried out. |
8.2 | Landlords must also carry out a self-assessment following a significant restructure and/or change in procedures. | Yes | A new self assessment is completed for any changes to services or policies. |
8.3 | Following each self-assessment, a landlord must:
| Yes | Published on this website and reported to the Housing and Neighbourhoods Committee every six months. |