Housing Ombudsman: Complaint Handling Code

How we meet the Complaint Handling Code.

The Housing Ombudsman publishes a Complaint Handling Code which helps social landlords, like the council, respond to complaints effectively and fairly.

As part of the Code, we must complete a self-assessment at least once every 12 months. This page is a summary of our latest self-assessment, completed in June 2024.

Our complaints procedures

See our complaints procedures page and pdf complaints policy (394 KB)  for details of how we handle complaints, including our 2 stage process.

How you can make a complaint

You can make a complaint:

For help with making a complaint in another language, braille or larger print, or on audio tape, you can email complaints.feedback@bristol.gov.uk.

If you make a complaint through social media, we'll ask you to use our online form to tell us about it. This is so we have all the information we need to investigate it. See our social media policy.

Our complaint handling performance

Between April 2023 and March 2024, we received:

  • 1514 complaints
  • 778 service requests

During this period the service refused 0 complaints.

Of the 1514 cases handled as a formal complaint:

  • 88% of cases were resolved at stage 1. 
  • 12% of complaints were resolved at stage 2 
  • 1% progressed to Ombudsman stage and we responded to all requests for evidence within timeframes agreed with the Ombudsman on a case by case basis

At Stage 1:

  • 1510 stage one complaints were received
  • 76% were responded to within Bristol City Council target of 15 working days
  • 46% of stage one complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales of 10 working days

At Stage 2:

  • 153 complaints escalated to stage two
  • 82% were responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales of 20 working days

84 complainants went on to complete an online satisfaction survey following their complaint. The overall satisfaction with complaint handling was 38% with 53% of complainants bring dissatisfied with their complaints experience.

From our quarterly tenant satisfaction survey, 28% of residents said they had made a complaint to us within the last 12 months. Of these, 33% were satisfied with the council’s approach to handling their complaint.

What we improved

As a result of complaints and feedback we received and our 2023/2024 self-assessment, we:

  • Case review meetings have been introduced as standard practice for all stage two complaints and housing ombudsman cases.
  • The BCC complaints policy and procedures have been updated in line with the Housing Ombudsman Code.
  • Our complaints handling training has been refreshed and is being delivered to staff across the service.

Planned improvements

Along with any ongoing learning from complaints that we receive, our planned improvements going forward are as follows:

We recognise that as a service we need to make improvements to improve the citizen's experience during the complaints process and ensure that we are compliant with the Housing Ombudsman's code. 

We are taking steps to address our complaint handling performance and we will be addressing the following areas as part of our planned improvements program:

  • Create a positive complaint handling culture for citizens. 
  • Improve our complaint handling processes.
  • Respond to complaints within timescales set in ombudsman code. 
  • Ensure that we embed learning from complaints 

Self-assessments

Read our completed self-assessments:

Performance report

Response from member responsible for complaints:

Councillors Barry Parsons (Chair) and Councillor Richard Eddy (Vice Chair) met with the Director of Housing and Landlord Services, senior officers within the Customer Relations Team and Housing and Landlord Service to scrutinise the Complaints Annual Performance report.

Key themes such as performance data, the self-assessment and service improvement actions to address areas for development.

We welcome the transparency with the service and their commitment to deliver improvements to embed a positive complaint handling culture within the Housing and Landlord Service.

The self-assessment demonstrates that any complaints received from our tenants will be dealt with in accordance with the complaint handling code.

We will continue to oversee and support the service to adhere to the Complaint Handling Code and utilise learning opportunities to deliver improvements to citizens experiences.

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