RESOLVED that Cabinet -

1)       in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code and in compliance with Cabinet’s scrutiny and oversight requirements, receives and formally notes the Council’s Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report, which includes the Annual Self-assessment against the Code, as set out in Appendices A and B;

2)       formally provides the following response to the Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement report, for publication:-

“Cabinet welcomes the Annual Housing Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report, including self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code presented by Cllr Baker in his role as Portfolio Holder for Housing & Planning and member responsible for complaints.

We would like to thank Cllr Baker for continuing in this role and his commitment to it. We know that during the year covered by the report the service has introduced further new policies and undertaken significant work in respect of compliance with the Consumer Standards. Our tenants have been more involved in reviewing our performance in respect of complaint handling and we thank them for their input and insights into their own experiences.

As the report highlights, we do need to make some improvement to how we respond to complaints and learn from what those who complain tell us.

Cabinet is concerned to see that satisfaction with our approach to complaint handling, as measured through the annual tenant satisfaction survey, has decreased when compared to the 2024/25 survey response. It is also concerning to see our speed of response to Stage 2 complaints decrease over the previous year when we hoped for a year-on-year improvement. Cabinet would also like Cllr Baker to ensure that measures are put in place to improve tenant satisfaction and response times and welcome the improvements proposed in the report.

The self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code is an important document that Cllr Baker and our tenants have had input to.

Overall, Cabinet endorses the self-assessment but as has already been said, would like to see further improvement to complaint response times and learning.”;

3)       authorises Officers to publish both the report and the Cabinet’s response on the Council’s website within the section relating to complaints and to submit the self-assessment to the Housing Ombudsman by 30 September 2026; and

4)       notes the amended figures for the annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures return, as set out in the body of this report.