Our Complaints Performance

There have been no Housing Ombudsman or LGO Determinations within the period and no evidence requests received.

There are currently 7 open cases on the Housing Ombudsman Portal. No cases currently require action or have any tasks pending. 4 cases area waiting determination and 3 are under assessment, with evidence requests not yet received.

The Board Complaint Champion reviewed the cases for assurance that there are no outstanding tasks or actions for BCH in relation to any cases.

Q1	Upheld and closed at Stage 1	Not Upheld and closed at Stage 1	Partially Upheld and closed at Stage 1	Escalated to Stage 2 - Upheld at Stage 1	Escalated to Stage 2 - Partially Upheld at Stage 1	Escalated to Stage 2 - Not Upheld at Stage 1	Total	Total Upheld or Partially Upheld at Stage 1
Responsive Repairs	10	1	0	0	0	0	11	10
Neighbourhoods	0	1	3	0	1	1	6	3
Choice Based Lettings	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	1
Contractor	6	0	1	0	0	0	7	7
Homeownership/ Leasehold Services	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Hotline	3	0	0	1	0	0	4	4
Resilience Housing - Sheltered	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	2
Rents	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	0
Adaptations	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Resettlement - Hostels	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Resettlement - Positive Transitions	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total	22	7	5	2	1	5	41	27

In the Quarter, 27 complaints (65.85%) were upheld or partially upheld at Stage 1. Of the 5 complaints that escalated to Stage 2, 2 (40%) were upheld or partially upheld at Stage 1.

Q4	Upheld at Stage 2	Not Upheld at Stage 2	Partially Upheld at Stage 2	Total	Total Upheld or Partially Upheld at Stage 2
Rents	0	3	0	3	0
Homeownership / Leasehold Services	0	3	0	3	0
Responsive Repairs	3	0	0	3	0
Choice Based Lettings	0	2	0	2	0
Adaptations	0	1	0	1	0
Hotline	1	0	0	1	0
Neighbourhoods	0	0	1	1	1
Resettlement - Positive Transitions	0	0	1	1	1
Resilience Housing - Sheltered	1	0	0	1	1
Total	4	9	2	16	6

In the quarter 16 complaints closed at Stage 2. Six complaints (37.5%) were upheld or partially upheld at Stage 2. No complaints escalated to the Housing Ombudsman within this period.

Of the 16 complaints closed at Stage 2, 15 had the same outcome at Stage 2 as they did at Stage 1. The complaint that had a different outcome at Stage 2 is outlined below:

Service	Stage 1	Stage 2	Detail
Neighbourhoods	Not Upheld	Partially Upheld	Majority of complaint aspects not upheld at Stage 2 but partially upheld due to covering letter for a Notice Of Seeking Possession being misleading.

Data taken from Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints closed within the period. A complaint may have more than one recorded root cause.

The tables below show the number of root causes recorded across all complaints, broken down by upheld/partially upheld and not upheld status:

Upheld/Partially Upheld

Root Cause	Contractor not performing or managed	Equipment fault	Human error	Lack of ownership to resolve issue	Lack of understanding or responsiveness to customer need	Poor communication	Poor conduct	Regulatory or Legal defined
Contractor	6	0	0	0	0	7	0	0
Lettings	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Homeownership	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Hotline	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0
Neighbourhoods	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0
Responsive Repairs	4	1	1	1	2	6	0	0
Resettlement - Hostels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Resettlement - Positive Transitions	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Resilience Housing - Sheltered	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0
Total	10	1	1	2	4	24	3	1

The main root cause for both upheld and partially upheld complaints remains as poor communication. The higher areas are within Repairs and Contractors.

Issues with poor conduct are within the Sheltered Housing Service. The Head of Support has confirmed that the Sheltered Service is under review. And this will include looking at ratios of customers to officers.

Not Upheld

Root Cause	Customer expectation beyond service provision or standard	Customer unhappy with tenancy condition or responsibility	Issue is responsibility of another organisation beyond BCH control	Unfounded complaint/allegation
Adaptations	1	0	0	0
Contractor	0	0	0	0
Choice Based Lettings	1	0	0	1
Homeownership/ Leasehold Services	1	0	0	0
Hotline	0	0	0	0
Neighbourhoods	1	0	1	0
Rents	3	2	0	0
Responsive Repairs	1	0	0	0
Resettlement - Hostels	0	0	1	0
Resettlement - Positive Transitions	0	0	0	0
Resilience Housing - Sheltered	0	0	0	0
Total	8	2	2	1

The main root cause for complaints that have not been upheld remains as customer expectations being beyond service standards or provision.

 

Data taken from Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints closed within the period. A complaint may have more than one recorded outcome.  

Outcome Type	Total
Apology Provided	17
Compensation Awarded	0
Goodwill gesture made	2
Mediation Offered	0
Explanation Provided	2
Remedial Property Works	2
Remedial Services Provided	5
Compromise reached	0
Referral/support provided	0

Compensation Spend:

£675 - Responsive Repairs

£600 - Assets

Total Q1 compensation - £1275

Eight compliments were recorded in the period:

Neighbourhoods & Fylde Council:

• I'd just like to thank you once again for coming out to see us today about the back garden and allowing us to reclaim some outdoor space. Mum is totally overjoyed now, you've really helped put a smile back on her face and I can't thank you enough for that!
• On behalf of the local residents, please pass on our thanks to those involved in the planting of said trees, as promised and (of course) your time and effort in supporting same - lets hope that the saplings thrive accordingly.

Neighbourhoods:

• I wanted to write to thank all departments that were involved in helping to solve the rubbish problem. Due to everyone pulling together, the street is now much cleaner, tempers aren’t flared and I'm no longer ashamed when friends pay a visit. You've all made a big difference to my daily surroundings and peace of mind. I'm sure the tenants on ……… are much happier too now they have their own bins. Please pass on my thanks and gratitude, to all involved for doing such a great job in solving this problem.
• It has made my day. Thanks for all your help. If Steve had a word say thanks, he's a diamond. Very happy bunny
• Love the bins and the new bin area thanks so much for all your hard work

Hotline & Evolution:

• Brilliant response from BCH telephone staff. Called 8am as daughter's tv aerial not working. Evolution on site by 10am Fixed problem & outside cabling. Amazing service all round. Thank you

Evolution:

• Compliment for operative on how lovely, smart and polite he was and what a great job he did and left no mess.

Repairs & Involvement & Communications:

• Thank you for the support from yourself and Shaun with the formal complaint and getting everything resolved in a timely manner.

The following outlines key learning and improvement outcomes from complaints:

Neighbourhoods

• Review and amendment of wording to cover letters for Notices.
• Arrangements made with Grounds Maintenance contractor to conduct a specific maintenance project.
• Update to account notes regarding vulnerabilities
• Block communications developed and issued regarding correct waste disposal
• Workflow being developed on new system to include completion of action plans

Repairs

• Discussion with contractor to replace like for like unless otherwise instructed
• 9 staff and team discussions

Resettlement – Positive Transitions & Assets

• Review and implementation of a process for disposal of damaged items

Upon complaint closure, a satisfaction survey is sent to all customers. In the quarter nine satisfaction surveys were received.

The results from the surveys received are summarised below:

1. How did you make your complaint?
   
   All 9 respondents answered this question:
   

   Response	Number	Percentage
   Email	3	33%
   Telephone	3	33%
   Website	3	33%

2. How easy was it to contact us to make a complaint?
   
   All 9 respondents answered this question:
   

   Response	Number	Percentage
   Very Easy	8	89%
   Fairly Easy	1	11%
   Neither Easy Nor Difficult	0	0%
   Fairly Difficult	0	0%
   Very Difficult	0	0%

   
   100% of respondents found it very or fairly easy to make a complaint.
   
   
3. Was the information provided clear and concise?
   
   All 9 respondents answered this question:
   

   Response	Number	Percentage
   Strongly Agree	7	78%
   Agree	2	22%
   Neither Agree Nor Disagree	0	0%
   Disagree	0	0%
   Strongly Disagree	0	0%

   
   100% of respondents agreed that the information provided was clear and concise.  
4. Did you receive personal contact (i.e. a phone call or visit) from the Investigating Manager at Stage 1 of your complaint? 
   
   All respondents answered this question:
   

   Response	Number	Percentage
   Yes	6	67%
   No	3	33%

   
   

   Having reviewed the cases for the 3 respondents who had no contact, the following was established:

   Repairs complaint – The Stage 1 response noted that the Manager visited the customer to discuss the complaint and assess the repair prior to the Stage 1 response being issued, however there was a significant period before the customer then escalated. Case escalated to Stage 2 and customer did not wish to attend hearing.

   Lettings complaint – Personal contact not made at Stage 1 by Manager. Case escalated to Stage 2 and customer attended hearing.

   Adaptations complaint - Personal contact not made at Stage 1 by Manager. Case escalated to Stage 2 and customer attended hearing.

5. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way your complaint case was handled by BCH?
   
   All 9 respondents answered this question:
   

   Response	Number	Percentage
   Very Satisfied	4	67%
   Fairly Satisfied	2	0%
   Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied	0	0%
   Fairly Dissatisfied	0	0%
   Very Dissatisfied	3	33%

   
   A total of 67% of respondents were satisfied with how their complaint was handled overall and 33% were dissatisfied.
   
   Two respondents who were very dissatisfied did not have a personal contact from the Investigating Manager at Stage 1 and both cases escalated to Stage 2. The reasons for one respondent’s dissatisfaction was that nothing was done about an ASB issue and the other respondent advised that BCH had a biased opinion of a contractor.
   
   The third respondent who was very dissatisfied did receive a personal contact at Stage 1 but advised they had been left out of pocket and not compensated. The complaint was in relation to the conduct of a staff member.

Learning outcome: The requirement for Investigating Managers to make personal contact at Stage 1 has been added to the Complaint Policy In agreement with the Customer Complaint Panel, we are also making this requirement a monitored service standard.

Upon complaint closure, a satisfaction survey is sent to all customers. In the quarter, 14 satisfaction surveys were received which represents a 42% response rate.

The results from the surveys received are summarised below:

How did you make your complaint?

All 14 respondents answered this question

Response	Number	Percentage
Email	7	50%
Telephone	3	21.43%
Website	2	14.29%
Letter	1	7.14%
Through an MP/Councillor	1	7.14%

How easy was it to contact us to make a complaint?

All 14 respondents answered this question

Response	Number	Percentage
Very easy	6	42.86%
Fairly easy	5	35.71%
Neither easy nor difficult	2	14.29%
Fairly difficult	1	7.14%
Very difficult	0	0%

The 1 respondent who stated it was fairly difficult to make a complaint did so through their MP/Councillor and advised they’d attended a community consultation with several departments and they were unsure who to make the complaint to.

Was the information provided clear and concise?

All 14 respondents answered this question

Response	Number	Percentage
Strongly agree	4	28.57%
Agree	8	57.14%
Neither agree or disagree	1	7.14%
Disagree	0	0%
Strongly disagree	1	7.14%

The 1 respondent who strongly disagreed that the information provided was clear and concise stated that they had been provided with conflicting information regarding community gardens.

Did you receive personal contact (i.e. a phone call or visit) from the Investigating Manager at Stage 1 of your complaint?

All 14 respondents answered this question

Response	Number	Percentage
Yes	10	71.43%
No	4	28.57%

Having reviewed the cases for the 4 respondents who stated they had received no contact, the following was established:

• Neighbourhoods complaint relating to incorrect waste disposal – the Stage 1 response confirms that the Investigating Manager made personal contact by telephone, and a discussion was had with the customer.
• Repairs complaint relating to toilet – personal contact was made by email in which the Investigating Manager confirmed they would be investigating the complaint and could be contacted if the complainant wished to discuss the matter. It is not known whether personal contact was attempted by telephone.
• Repairs complaint regarding miscommunication during damp and mould treatment – the Stage 1 response confirms that the Investigating Manager made personal contact by telephone, and a discussion was had with the customer.
• Repairs complaint relating to work in bedroom – the Stage 1 response confirms that the Investigating Manager made personal contact by telephone, and a discussion was had with the customer.

Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way your complaint case was handled by BCH?

All 14 respondents answered this question

Response	Numer	Percentage
Very satisfied	5	35.71%
Fairly satisfied	3	21.43%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	1	7.14%
Fairly dissatisfied	3	21.43%
Very dissatisfied	2	14.29%

57% of respondents were satisfied with how their complaint was handled overall, and 36% were either fairly or very dissatisfied. Having reviewed the cases for the 5 respondents who were dissatisfied, the following was established:

Very Dissatisfied

• Repairs complaint – 1 respondent noted that they felt no support was offered, just criticism. They stated that no personal contact was made from the Investigating Manager at Stage 1 but the response confirms personal contact was made by telephone. The respondent advised it was very easy to make a complaint and the information provided was clear and easy to understand. The complaint was upheld at Stage 1 but escalated to Stage 2 when the standard of works was below an acceptable level. The complainant subsequently made contact to withdraw this Stage 2 complaint but the response was issued.
• Neighbourhoods complaint – 1 respondent commented that the response was very contradictory to what they had initially been advised. As this complaint was closed at Stage 1, this respondent was contacted to clarify if they wish to escalate their complaint following the feedback received but they stated that they did not wish to escalate.
• Neighbourhoods complaint – 1 respondent noted that they felt dissatisfied at being told to contact Enveco rather than the issue being dealt with by the Neighbourhoods Team. This respondent stated that they did not receive personal contact at Stage 1 but the response confirmed that contact was made by telephone. The complaint was not upheld at Stage 1, however, a block letter was sent to residents advising of correct waste disposal.

Fairly Dissatisfied

• Homeownership/Leasehold Services complaint – 1 respondent noted that they had received absolutely no feedback with regards to their initial complaint. The complaint went through both Stage 1 and Stage 2 and responses were issued in line with the formal process. Emails have been sent and voicemails left following the satisfaction survey return to query if the Stage 1 and 2 responses had been received but no reply has been received.
• Neighbourhoods complaint – 1 respondent noted that the problem has not been resolved, commenting “letters and more letters, same old”. The respondent received personal contact from the Investigating Manager at Stage 1 and the complaint was partially upheld due to failure to keep the complainant updated regarding actions taken. An action plan was completed and agreed.

As agreed with the Complaint Panel, a new question has been added for this quarter on whether complainant would be interested in joining the BCH Complaint Panel.7 respondents stated that they would be interested in joining; 1 respondent is a private complainant and therefore not eligible to join. The 6 respondents who are will be contacted by the Involvement and Communications Team with further information and support to join the panel.