Housing complaints procedure

Reading Borough Council has a two-stage process:

Stage 1:

Make a complaint

We will confirm that we have received your complaint and let you know who will be investigating within five working days and include the complaints policy and details of the Housing Ombudsman. The acknowledgment will include the understanding of the complaint, the outcomes you are seeking and the aspects of what Reading Borough Council is and is not responsible for answering. We will also seek clarification with you on any aspects of your complaint that remain unclear.

The Investigating Officer will review the case, talk to everyone involved and confirm the outcome of your complaint within 10 working days of the acknowledgement.

If all or part of your complaint is not resolved to you satisfaction, your complaint will progress from stage 1 to stage 2.

Stage 2:

You must contact us within 28 days of receiving your letter to express your dissatisfaction with the stage 1 complaint response.

We will ask a more senior manager to carry out an independent review of your complaint – we will write to you within five working days to let you know who this person is. The acknowledgment will include the understanding of the complaint, the outcomes you are seeking and the aspects of what Reading Borough Council is and is not responsible for answering. We will also seek clarification with you on any aspects of your complaint that remain unclear.

They will ask you about your experience and record the details of your complaint in writing. They will also talk to other people involved in the case.

They will give their report and recommendations to the Assistant Director for a decision.

The Assistant Director will write to you to tell you their decision and send you a copy of the report. This should be within 20 days of your acknowledgment letter.

This is the end of the Council’s two stage complaints procedure.

If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s investigation of your complaint you can
escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. For more details see
our Comments and complaints about Council services leaflet.

Full corporate complaints policy

1. Introduction

1.1 The formal process divides into 2 stages. The first of these provides an opportunity for a local resolution of any concerns which may arise and it is expected that the majority of complaints will be sorted out at this level.

Where you remain dissatisfied with your stage 1 complaint where all or part of your complaint remains unresolved, the complaint will progress to stage 2. The Council may also decide or recommend investigation at stage 2 if it clears your complaint has not been resolved.

Stage 2 involves the investigation of the complaint by a more senior member of staff.  

1.2 The standard definition of a complaint is: “an expression of dissatisfaction,
however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the
landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident/tenant or group of
residents/tenants. The word ‘Complaint’ does not have to be used by the Resident/Tenant when contacting us for it to be treated as a complaint. If your complaint is raised by a representative or third party this will be processed in line with our complaints policy.

1.3 It is your choice or right to make a complaint when expressing dissatisfaction with our services.

When contacting us a decision will be made as to whether you are making a service request or a formal complaint.

A service request is when you ask for help or report an issue that needs to be addressed as part of the normal services provided. For example, requesting a repair, reporting a broken streetlight, or asking for information are all service requests. A complaint, on the other hand, is when you express dissatisfaction with the quality of a service, how it was handled, or something that went wrong. For example, if a repair was delayed or done poorly, or if you feel you were treated unfairly, that would be a complaint. It’s about addressing a problem with the service or the way it was provided.

1.4 We will raise a complaint if you express dissatisfaction with your service request response and raising a complaint will not prevent / delay or impact on actions needed to resolve any immediate issues (i.e. the service request). 

1.5 We offer a variety of different channels for you to contact us to raise a complaint, these can include: in person, telephone, in writing by email and other digital options. Make a complaint or compliment – Reading Borough Council 

1.6 Should you require this policy in an accessible/different format, please contact us and we will arrange for this to be sent to you in the required format. This includes translation, brail and accessible formats for visible and hearing impaired.

1.7 Our complaints policy is advertised on our website, in our Tenant Newsletter and Annual Report.  

1.8 A third party can make a complaint on a resident’s behalf (with the resident’s permission). If the residents require an advocate, we will signpost them to advocacy providers in the voluntary sector. 

1.9 If the response falls outside the extended advised timescale, we will agree with you suitable intervals for keeping you updated on the progress of your complaint. 

1.10 11If an extension if required by the Landlord, you will be contacted as to the reason why the extension is necessary and confirm the new due date for the response. For stage one responses this extension will be no more than 10 working days from the acknowledgment without good reason as set out in the Ombudsman code. If you are not in agreement with the extension and the reasons given, we will provide the details of the Housing Ombudsman Service. If the timescales are exceeded, you have the right to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service, and we will provide those details.

1.11 Any related additional complaints by the resident are incorporated into the stage 1 response, if the response has not been issued and any new issues will be logged as a new complaint, if the stage 1 response has been issued, the issues are unrelated or it would unreasonably delay the response.

2. Complaints procedure

2.1 Stage 1 – Resolution of Complaints

2.1.1 Where a complaint is received by a member of staff it must be recorded. The record should show the substance of the complaint, what action was taken to resolve it and whether the service user is satisfied with the outcome. Where possible, and practical, the person should be asked to sign the record to confirm it is correct. In order that complaints can be tracked a copy should be sent to the Customer Relations Team as soon as possible after the complaint has been made. The original should be appropriately filed by the supervisor concerned.

2.1.2 The acknowledgment will include the understanding of the complaint, the outcomes you are seeking, and the aspects of what Reading Borough Council is and is not responsible for answering. We will also seek clarification with you on any aspects of your complaint that remain unclear. Every effort should be made to respond to the complaint within 10 working days of the acknowledgment. In any event, a letter of acknowledgement shall be sent out to the complainant within 5 working days.

2.1.3 The line manager should review the complaints file regularly and take the lead in advising staff in relation to handling of complaints. The line manager should always ensure that members of staff are made aware of complaints made about them or their actions.

2.1.4 Every effort should be made to resolve the complaint or representation as speedily as possible and to the complainant’s satisfaction, within 10 working days of the acknowledgment. The response to the complainant should be recorded, however briefly, and the Customer Relations Team should also be informed to allow monitoring of the complaints’ process.

A complaint response is provided to the resident when the answer is known, not when all outstanding actions are completed. Updates are provided to the resident on outstanding actions i.e. booked in repairs as well as full details on timescales and future booked appointments. These actions will be tracked by the Landlord to ensure that these actions are completed within agreed timescales stipulated in the response.

2.1.5 The response to the complainant should advise them that, should they remain dissatisfied, the complaint will progress to stage 2. progress to stage 2:

A time limit (28 days would be reasonable) should be suggested for them to request an investigation by senior officer, after which it will be assumed that they are satisfied with the outcome of the investigation or have referred the matter to the Ombudsman. Should this timeframe pass, we will apply discretion and take into account the individual circumstances of your request.

2.1.6 Complaints revolving around Council policy will effectively be completed at Stage 1. Although recorded as complaints, there is no scope for investigating matters of policy. However, complainants can be advised to raise the issue with their ward councillors.

2.1.7 A complaint that has already been dealt with at all stages of the procedure will not be re-investigated.

2.1.8 A complaint will not be considered if it is made more than twelve months  after the tenant became aware of the issue, or of the issue occurring.. In these cases, the Customer Relations Team should write to advise the complainant that their complaint cannot be considered, explaining the reasons why and advise the complainant of their right to approach the Housing Ombudsman. If the complaint has not been made prior to the twelve months, this will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

2.1.9 Discretion in deciding whether to consider complaints where to do so would prejudice any of the following investigations will be outside of scope. In these cases, the Customer Relations Team should write to advise the complainant that their complaint cannot be considered, explaining the reasons why and advise the complainant of their right to approach the Local Government & Social Ombudsman or Housing Ombudsman.

• Court proceedings
• Insurance claims
• Tribunals
• Appeals
• HR/Disciplinary proceedings; or
• Criminal proceedings

2.1.10 Anonymous complaints will be recorded and referred to the Customer Relations Team. Anonymous complaints fall outside of the scope of the complaints procedure.

2.2. Stage 2 – Investigation

2.2.1 When it has not proved possible to resolve the complaint, and the complainant remains dissatisfied, the complainant can ask for their complaint to be investigated by a more senior officer. You are not required to give the reasons as to why you are requesting a stage 2 investigation. We will work with you to understand the reasons you remain dissatisfied and progress to stage 2. This is Stage 2 of the complaints’ procedure. An acknowledgement will be sent to the complainant within 5 working days.

2.2.2 All complaints which proceed to Stage 2 must be immediately notified to the Assistant Director and/or to the Customer Relations Team. This will be considered by someone who was not involved in the stage 1 investigation. 

2.2.3 The Assistant Director will appoint a manager to carry out an investigation.

2.2.4 The Investigating Officer will meet with the complainant and agree their complaint, which should be recorded in writing. Following the investigation, they will submit a report to the Assistant Director. The Assistant Director will ensure that a written response is made to a Stage 2 complaint, within 20 working days of its acknowledgment, enclosing a copy of the Investigating Officer’s report. A complaint response is provided to the resident when the answer is known, not when all outstanding actions are completed. Updates are provided to the resident on outstanding actions i.e. booked in repairs as well as full details on timescales and future booked appointments. These actions will be tracked by the Landlord to ensure that these actions are completed within agreed timescales stipulated in the response.

2.2.5 If an extension if required by the Landlord, you will be contacted as to the reason why the extension is necessary and confirm the new due date for the response. For stage two responses this extension will be no more than 20 working days without good reason as set out in the Ombudsman code.  If you are not in agreement with the extension and the reasons given, we will provide the details of the Housing Ombudsman Service. If the timescales are exceeded, you have the right to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service, and we will provide those details.

2.2.6 The Service Manager/ Assistant Director is responsible for ensuring the quality of the report and response to the complainant. Copies of the Investigating Officer’s report and the written response to the complainant must be sent to the Customer Relations Team.

2.2.7 Should a complainant remain dissatisfied with the decision or actions of the Directorate the final course of action which they may take is to contact the Local Government Ombudsman/Housing Ombudsman.

3. Council owned properties managed by a Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

Some of Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) housing stock is managed by a PFI – Affinity Reading Limited – although they manage services to residents on behalf of RBC, they follow the Complaints published by the Council. Any tenant or leaseholder managed whose home is managed by the PFI should direct their complaint to Affinity Reading Limited.

If the Council receive a complaint that is for resident services managed by Affinity Reading Limited, the Council will redirect the complaint to the appropriate person at Affinity Reading Limited.

Affinity Reading Limited respond to both stage one and stage two complaints.

If the Council receive a stage one or stage two complaint for Affinity Reading Limited, the Council will redirect this to Affinity Reading Limited.

A link to the Affinity Reading Limited webpages for how to make a complaint is here: Complaints and Feedback – Affinity Housing

Tenants who live in properties managed by Affinity Reading Limited can make a complaint in different ways:

• Via an e form which is on the page link above
• Visiting their offices at Unit 2, Woodside Business Park, Whitley Wood Lane, Reading, RG2 8LW.
• Emailing customerservice@affinityhousing.co.uk
• Calling 0800 028 6942 – 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (except bank holidays)
• For out of hours emergencies, contact: 0800 028 6942 (5pm to 9am) Monday to Sunday and bank holidays.

4. Housing ombudsman

As a landlord we must provide you with information about your right to contact the Ombudsman / the Ombudsman’s contact details where:

• the landlord does not accept a complaint
• the complaint response exceeds the timescales set out in the Code (for stage 1 complaints, this is 10 working days, plus the further 10 working day extension period. For stage 2 complaints, this is 20 working days, plus the further 20 working day extension period)
• the landlord issues the Stage 2 response