Annual Social Housing Complaint Handling Performance Report

2023 - 2024

1. This report is the first annual report of Spelthorne Borough Council on the performance in handling complaints by its managing company Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), in the Council’s capacity as a social landlord for Harper House and the White House.

2. This report addresses the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) which became statutory on 1 April 2024.

3. The Code requires that this report includes the following:

a. the annual self-assessment against the Code to ensure our complaint handling policy remains in line with its requirements

b. a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the landlord’s complaint handling performance - this must also include a summary of the types of complaints the landlord has refused to accept

c. any findings of non-compliance with this Code by the Ombudsman

d. the service improvements made as a result of the learning from complaints

e. any annual report about the landlord’s performance from the Ombudsman

f. any other relevant reports or publications produced by the Ombudsman in relation to the work of the landlord

4. Addressing each point above: -

a. The annual self-assessment against the Code follows at Appendix B.

b. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is shown in the following tables:

Year	No. Stage 1 complaints	Response time	Decision
2023-24	3	2 complaints responded to outside of the 10 working day timescale, with agreed extensions as per the Code. 1 complaint withdrawn	Both upheld – 1 offered compensation for time and trouble and service failure.

Year	No. Stage 2 complaints	Average response time	Decision
2023-24	1	Complaint responded to within 20 working days	Upheld – increased compensation offered

MTVH did not refuse to accept any complaint. Their Complaint Policy outlines the reasons they may choose to refuse a complaint, which is compliant with the Code.

c. MTVH have not received any findings of non-compliance with the Code by the Ombudsman, in relation to their complaint handling at these two properties.

d. Learning outcomes from the two complaints escalated to Stage 2 in 2023-24:

1. MTVH has made one major improvement as a result of learning from these complaints which is to agree a service offer from their Repairs Team that gives them assurance of quality and completion of works. A Team Leader from the Repairs Service now visits the services regularly to make sure that repairs raised are completed and to check quality of repairs completed by the Handyperson.

2. Additionally, the Council has required reporting from MTVH at its quarterly contract review meetings on the status of all emergency and routine repairs at Harper House and White House.

3. The Council has reinforced the need for MTVH to immediately report to us any issues of health and safety, including fire hazards, that they are made aware of.

e. No reports in relation to MTVH’s complaint handling for Harper House and White House have been received from the Ombudsman.

f. No other relevant reports or publications have been produced by the Ombudsman in relation to the work of MTVH at Harper House and White House.