Decision details

The Committee received a summary of complaints made against the Council for 2025/26. Members noted that, of 552 stage 1 complaints received overall, 102 were investigated under the stage 2 complaints procedure and 12 were investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO); under the stage 2 procedure, 57 complaints (56%) were not upheld, 42 (41%) were upheld and one was withdrawn (3%).

Members queried the process where a compensation offer had been made, and were advised that acceptance of a stage 2 compensation payment did not preclude a complainant from subsequently referring their complaint to the Ombudsman. In response to questions regarding external wall insulation, officers confirmed there were no concerns regarding the contractors used for previous installation programmes, but that a small number of cases had arisen where subsequent repairs work had affected the integrity of insulation; work was underway to survey affected properties and to improve communication with tenants and repairs staff on this issue.

Members raised concerns regarding the trend analysis at Appendix 1, noting a deterioration in complaint themes such as communication, delays and follow-up monitoring between quarter 3 and quarter 4. Officers advised caution in drawing conclusions from a single year of trend data, given that complaints are not always made in the quarter in which the underlying issue arose, and noted that additional resources had been approved for both the Complaints Team and the Housing Repairs Team, together with a restructure of the Housing Repairs service, which were expected to support improved performance. Officers also noted that some of the increase in complaints relating to capital works reflected improved recording of complaints, rather than a decline in service, and that a recent change of pest control contractor had contributed to a number of complaints which were expected to reduce as the new arrangement embedded.