Housing Complaints Reform Rafael Runco Deputy Housing Ombudsman
What do we have now Housing & Regeneration Act 2008 – Tenant Services Authority, Homes & Communities Agency, National Tenant Voice...PLUS Audit Commission, Leasehold Valuation Tribunals, etc, Housing Ombudsman Service + Local Government Ombudsman 1st April 2010 > all “social” housing within single regulatory framework Regulatory Standards – complaints central to co-regulation: Standard One and Local Offers Protocols – TSAHOSLGO No overlap between Ombudsman schemes HOS’s support programme for landlords and tenants: joint initiatives with CIH, NHF, HouseMark, TAROE, TPAS, InSTEP, QHS, CCH, and others.
Coalition Government ?
USE INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE REPORT PROBLEM USE INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE CONTACT OMBUDSMAN LGO or HOS NOW
USE INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE REPORT PROBLEM USE INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE DEMOCRATIC FILTER LOCALISM BILL APR 2013 REFERRAL TO SINGLE OMBUDSMAN
Localism: a cultural shift in complaint-handling: Internal Complaints Procedures remain first-port-of-call – emphasis on improving case handling: continuing role of Ombudsman in support of effective dispute resolution, based on key principles “Democratic Filter” tackling performance issues and complaints from the bottom up. Involvement of politicians and tenant panels but no clarity of role yet > Ombudsman referrals (veto) Single Ombudsman for domain, with enhanced power to enforce decisions in Court and dealing with wider range of problems Complaint management and complainant satisfaction will be more critical as key performance indicators No central focus for statistics, examples, or analysis: increasing role of learning through benchmarking Dispute Resolution Principles project and guidance
Don’t panic! We have almost two years to develop the new system.
Email support@housing-ombudsman.org.uk Website housing-ombudsman.org.uk