Complaints and Disputes
Introduction – Background
Our regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency states:
“Providers shall offer a range of ways for tenants to express a complaint and set out service standards for responding to complaints, including complaints about performance against the standards, and details of what to do if they are unhappy with the outcome of a complaint. Providers shall inform tenants how they use complaints to improve their services. Registered providers shall publish information about complaints each year, including their number and nature, and the outcome of the complaints. Providers shall accept complaints made by advocates authorised to act on a tenant’s/tenants’ behalf”.
Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard 2012 para 1.2
Available here
This is clearly directed at large Housing Associations, with a separate management, rather than a small, self-managed Co-op like ourselves. It assumes that complaints will be about the management, whereas for us, any complaint which refers to the running of the Co-op will inevitably involve other Co-op members.
However, we comply in the following ways:
- The procedure below explains how members may express a complaint
- This complaints policy is available to all members
- The procedure sets the standard for responding to complaints, including time limits.
- We accept complaints against this standard, and against the conduct of the complaints procedure.
- The Co-op accepts that advocates may support or speak on behalf of members who complain.
- We have included details of what a member can do if they are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint. In particular, we are members of the Independent Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Information on how to use the scheme is available from the Ombudsman website, P&PR or the Co-op Office.
http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/ - Housing Management will include a report on complaints in their Annual report each year, including recommendations of improvements to the Co-op’s conduct and services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-standards
The Co-op will use complaints to identify trends and improve services. An annual report will be produced by Housing Management to share key learning and changes made.
The Co-op’s policy is based on
- National Housing Federation Policies, the Small Print
- Nat Federation of Housing Associations Dealing with Complaints and Compensation
- Chartered Institute of Housing Good Practice Briefing Issue 14 Oct 1998
The policy deals with internal complaints against:
a. a sub-group or other body of the Co-op
b. another Co-op member acting in their Co-op capacity
c. another Co-op member as an individual and a neighbour
The policy does not deal with complaints from outside the Co-op.
Complaints involving a Co-op employee are dealt with under the Grievance Procedure
http://www.vinecoop.org.uk/co-op-policies/housing-management/grievance-procedure
Housing Management is the sub-group responsible for dealing with Complaints.
Within Housing Management it is the job of the Welfare Officer to initiate the procedure. The procedure may then be conducted by a specially nominated Complaints Officer together with a member from another sub-group. There will be a list of members who agree to act as Complaints Officers, when necessary, and training will be provided.
If the Welfare Officer is unavailable, another designated member of Housing Management will initiate the procedure to avoid delay.
The complainant and those complained against will be informed which two members are coordinating their complaint. They will be referred to as the ‘Complaints Officers’ in this policy.
If there is a complaint against Housing Management, this should go directly to the MC Chair, who will appoint two Complaints Officers and follow the procedure.
A Complaint against the MC should go to the GM Chair who will appoint two Complaints Officers and follow the procedure.
Principles of the Complaints Policy
adapted from Policies the Small Print
- All members have the right to have a complaint investigated.
- Complaints will be dealt with promptly, courteously, systematically, and fairly;
- Complaints will be dealt with in confidence;
- Complainants and those complained against will be kept informed of progress and the outcome of any investigation;
- Complainants and those complained against will have the right, at their own cost, to have a friend or advocate present at any interview;
- The Co-op will advise all dissatisfied complainants of their rights to redress;
- Where mistakes have occurred, the Co-op will not only apologise, but also seek to rectify the mistake wherever possible.
- The Co-op will record information about complaints and their outcome. For details on how this is done, see each Stage of the procedure below;
- The Co-op will initiate training for members involved in handling complaints.
- The Independent Housing Ombudsman should be a last resort following conclusion of all internal procedures.
- The Co-op will use the complaints system to learn from its mistakes and to raise the level of member satisfaction.
Complaints are not the same as personal disputes or disciplinary matters. However, where a matter involves both a personal conflict and a service-related issue, the Co-op will assess it under this complaints procedure, unless it is clearly better suited to another process.
Procedure
There is a ‘Welfare Stage’ prior to the beginning of the Procedure (see below).
The Procedure is now grouped into two formal stages as follows:
- Stage 1: Investigation and Response
- Stage 2: Review and Appeal
The Complainant and the person complained against should be made aware of this timetable.
All complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days of receipt.
If at any point the complainant does not respond or contact the Complaints Officer within the time-scale, it will be reported to the next MC that the complaint has been dropped, unless extenuating circumstances have been accepted. The person complained against will be kept fully informed.
Unless the procedure is delayed by extenuating circumstances, the process should take no longer than five months, and will be reported to five consecutive MCs.