Annual complaints performance and service improvement report
New for 2024
Annual complaints performance and service improvement report
Thank you to everyone who took the time to contact us over the last 12 months to tell us what is going well, and where things are not going so well. We value your feedback.
What’s changed?
Over the last twelve month we changed the way we manage complaints. A centralised Complaints Resolution Team was formed in April 2023, taking on all stage one complaints from June 2023. Previous complaints management was carried out at departmental level. The new team are part of the Service Improvement Team and focus on compliments as well as complaints. They use the learnings to make recommendations for changes to the way we work to make sure problems don’t reoccur.
What’s going well?
Compliments
266 compliments were logged for the year 2023/24 for 287 colleagues. The most common compliment was about how helpful a colleague was, followed by the standard of work and how professional they were. This is an increase on 2022/23 when 124 compliments were logged.
The Customer Communications Centre received the most compliments for being helpful, and Property Services, which includes the Inhouse Maintenance Service (IHMS), received the most compliments for the ‘standard of work’.
Complaints
Complaint volumes - overview
739 complaints were opened during year 2023/24, a decrease of 13.5% (839) compared with year 2022/23.
Stage one: 654 (792 in year 2022/23 – 13.5% decrease)
Stage two: 85 (47 in year 2022/23 – 45% increase)
Key: 2022/23 2023/24 Number of complaints logged per month – year on year comparison
84 customer complaints were rejected. Rejection is often due to confusion about what a complaint is. We use the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) definition of a complaint. Sometimes customers may present anti-social behaviour (ASB) as a complaint, but we manage this as a service request. Other reasons for rejection include the complaint already being raised and investigated or there being no failure in service provision.
Each complaint is logged against one or more categories, depending on the reason for the complaint. For example, a complaint could be about an adviser’s attitude as well as the quality of service provided – this would be listed as one complaint; but against two categories. From the 739 complaints, there were 871 categories noted. This means some complaints include more than one service failure.
The Property Services Team had the highest number of categories referenced with 633 logged (73%) compared with 731 for 2022/23. While we take every complaint seriously and seek to reduce causes for complaint, we know the number of visits and customer interactions for this team leads to a higher percentage of complaints when compared with other departments.
Resolved complaints
A total of 694 complaints were closed in 2023/24 with:
The number of complaints withdrawn by customers
The main reasons for complaints being either upheld or partially upheld were due to:
• Time repairs were taking to complete was more than our target timescales
• Quality of repair work
• Non-attendance of scheduled appointments – both IHMS and TSG (our gas, heating and hot water contractor)
• Cancellation and rebooking of appointments
• Grounds maintenance not being carried out.
Escalation of complaints
A total of 85 complaints were escalated to stage two during Year 2023/24, an increase of 45% on the same period Year 2022/23.
Reasons for this increase can be attributed in:
• Formation of the dedicated Complaints Resolution Team (CRT) with full awareness of escalation expectation in line with the HOS Complaints Handling code, instead of colleagues trying to resolve the complaint outside of process
• Increased media (social/television) coverage on Housing Ombudsman Service Complaints Handling code, repairs, damp and mould, social housing
• Government campaigns – ‘Make Things Right’
• Greater customer awareness of how to escalate complaints
• Insufficient level of detail provided by managers within the organisation to support the initial complaint response.
Out of the 85 Stage two complaints escalated, a total of 72 were closed in Year 2023/24 with:
Trends have been reviewed where complaints were escalated and work is ongoing with relevant heads of service to reduce this figure over the coming year with a focus on:
• Improved understanding of resolution expectations at the start of the complaint handling
• Understanding other roles and empowering colleagues to work closer with subject matter experts to help with solutions on stage one complaints to provide more quality resolutions
• Stage two case reviews of lessons learned and root causes, including sharing these with the heads of service to feed back to their teams
• Letter writing – greater focus on explaining events and what we are doing to get this right for the customer
• Regular updates at department team meetings to share data, areas of complaints and what can be done to help reduce the number of complaints for their areas.
Stage two complaints – top ten root causes
Key
Customer not being listened to
Handling of ASB
On going issues with hot water, heating
Delay with repairs
Quality of cleaning
Discrimination
Lack of grounds maintenance
Ongoing issues with lifts
Quality of repair work by contractor
Lack of action taken around repair
The revised Compliments and Complaints Policy was produced during the year 2023/24, and was approved by the bpha Board in February 2024. The new HOS Complaint Handling Code was published immediately afterwards, resulting in further updates. The newest version of the bpha Compliments and Complaints Policy can be found here.
Policy updates Housing Ombudsman cases
We have received 23 formal communications that required some sort of action. These were:
Five General enquiries (two to raise a stage one complaint, two to raise a stage two complaint and one request for more information)
Four Requests for action (three to raise stage one complaints, one to raise a stage two)
Three First notices for action (two to raise stage a stage one complaint, one request for more information)
One Second Notice for Action (one to raise a stage two complaint)
Three Final Notice for Action (two to raise a stage, one request for more information)
Seven Information / evidence requests
Out of the information/evidence requests submitted to the HOS, we are waiting for five Determination outcomes at the time of writing this report (May 2024).
During Year 2023/24 – we have received determination outcomes on two complaints:
Complaint one
(originally made in 2021) had several elements that the HOS determined on as follows:
ASB handling Satisfactory offer
Handling of reports of discrimination No maladministration
Handling of concerns of building fire safety No maladministration
Complaint handling Maladministration
The maladministration related to delays in a formal complaint being raised.
Complaint two
(originally made in 2022) had two elements within the HOS determination outcomes:
ASB handling (noise nuisance) Service failure
Complaint handling Maladministration
bpha was ordered to pay compensation for failures in dealing with the noise nuisance reported, and for the complaint handling failures, relating to not raising or dealing with the complaint as per the process in place at the time.
Learning from complaints
Learnings have been grouped together to allow for significant changes rather than listing over 900 individual learnings.
Improvements are being made to the computer system used by the Complaints Resolution Team so overreaching themes can be linked to multiple complaints.
Examples of service improvements:
In House Maintenance
Our In House Maintenance Team has continued to grow as planned over the last 12 months.
Following customer feedback via complaints, and other channels, there have been some other changes to their working practices. Our operatives can carry out inspections, instead of needing a surveyor to visit - often they are best placed to inspect if the job relates to their skill area, such as plumbing or electrics.
We have been building our self-appointing repairs system to enable customers to book their own times for visits, and we have been improving the information provided by our appointment reminders.
TSG – gas safety and repairs
Regular interaction has taken place with TSG and a ‘winter 2024 plan’ led to:
• Moving more servicing to the summer
• Training more operatives
• Reviewing the compensation payment levels and more recently TSG attendance at stage two complaint hearings to understand and respond immediately to issues.
We are pleased that the work carried out has resulted in the number of winter complaints relating to TSG halving from 2022/23.
Following our first full year of Tenant Satisfaction Measures feedback, we have published the results, including actions that have been taken, or are being taken, on our website.
Our Ombudsman Self-Assessment
The HOS code requires us to carry out a self-assessment against the code annually, or after significant change. We completed the self-assessment in January 2024 following the implementation of the Complaints Resolution Team. Shortly afterwards the HOS updated their code; we updated our Policy, to ensure we are meeting the HOS code 2024 for the year ahead and repeated the self-assessment.
The HOS Code 2024 self-assessment can be found here.
There is one part of the new code we are not yet compliant on:
“5.5 Landlords are responsible for ensuring that any third parties handle complaints in line with the Code.”
We work closely with our contractors, many of whom understand the Code and support our Complaints Resolution Team to meet the timescales. However, we are unable to mandate the timescales for management companies that cover estates that include bpha homes. Sometimes when we have escalated issues, we have been unable to easily resolve via their complaints processes.
How do we know complaints meet the code?
We do monthly performance monitoring within the team. We also use an internal assurance team to independently check our policy against the code, and that we are doing as the policy says. It will be running a full assurance check again this year based on the new HOS code 2024.
What the bpha Board says about this
The Board discussed the annual complaints report, focusing on the insights and data presented. The Board acknowledged that while there were complaints about specific issues, the concerted efforts of the team led to an overall improvement in key metrics for the 2023/24 period, despite facing certain challenges.
The Board emphasised its commitment to ensuring that all documents and policies comply with new regulations and address any gaps identified during the review process. This aligns with the Ombudsman’s guidelines, which underscore the importance of regulatory compliance and proactive management in handling complaints effectively.
The Board in their discussion noted key points:
• The Board was pleased to observe a decrease in the overall volume of complaints compared to previous periods. This suggests that the measures implemented over the past year have positively impacted service delivery and resident satisfaction.
• Despite the general decrease, the Board highlighted that stage two complaints remain a significant area of concern. These complaints which escalate beyond the initial response, indicate areas where initial resolutions were not satisfactory. The Board identified this as the main focus for the team moving forward, emphasising the need for more effective resolution strategies at the initial stages to prevent escalation.
• The Board engaged in an in-depth discussion about the trends and root causes of complaints. The Board recognised that understanding these factors is crucial for developing targeted interventions. The Board acknowledged that some complaints stem from systemic issues that require long-term strategic planning to address effectively.
• The Board reiterated its commitment to the Ombudsman’s guidelines, which stresses the importance of transparency, accountability and learning from complaints. They discussed how the current policies and procedures align with these guidelines.
• An action plan was discussed to ensure continuous improvement. This includes regular training for staff on complaints handling, more robust monitoring of complaints resolutions, and increased engagement with residents to gather feedback and improve services.
• The Board stressed the importance of ensuring that all documents and policies are up to date and discussed the ongoing review process to identify and address any gaps, ensuring that bpha remains compliant and responsive to the regulatory changes.
The Board demonstrated a thorough understanding of the annual complaints report and its implications. They have committed to addressing the issues raised, particularly focusing on reducing stage two complaints, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. The discussion underscored the Board’s dedication to improving service delivery and maintaining high standards of governance within bpha.