Section 1: Definition of a complaint
Code provision 1.2
Requirement
A complaint must be defined as: ‘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 or group of residents.’
Do we comply?
Yes
Evidence
Our online Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure.
Commentary / explanation
This is defined within our Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure. Section titled What is a complaint? specifies: ‘A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the Council, its staff, or those acting on behalf of the Council, affecting an individual citizen or group of citizens.’
Code provision 1.3
Requirement
A resident does not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as such. Whenever a resident expresses dissatisfaction landlords must give them the choice to make complaint. A complaint that is submitted via a third party or representative must be handled in line with the landlord’s complaints policy.
Do we comply?
Yes
Evidence
Our online Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure.
Commentary / explanation
Our residents do not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treat as such. This is defined within our Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure.
Section titled Who can make a complaint specifies: ‘The Council will accept complaints from anyone who has used or been affected by a service provided by or on behalf of the Council. The Council will also accept complaints from
Code provision 1.4
Requirement
Landlords must recognise the difference between a service request and a complaint. This must be set out in their complaints policy. A service request is a request from a resident to the landlord requiring action to be taken to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but must be recorded, monitored and reviewed regularly.
Do we comply?
Yes
Evidence
Our online Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure.
Commentary / explanation
This is defined within our Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure. section titled ‘What is a complaint?’ it states:
‘Complaints and service requests can be closely related. The initial reporting of a fault will normally be treated as a service request and the Council will seek to resolve the issue outside of this procedure in the first instance. When assessing whether to treat a contact as a complaint or a service request each case will be considered on its individual merits and consideration may be given to the following factors’
As a landlord we do recognise the difference between a service request and a complaint. We follow the Housing Ombudsman definition on this matter.
Code provision 1.5
Requirement
A complaint must be raised when the resident expresses dissatisfaction with the response to their service request, even if the handling of the service request remains ongoing. Landlords must not stop their efforts to address the service request if the resident complains.
Do we comply?
Yes
Evidence
Our online Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure.
Commentary / explanation
This is defined within our Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedure. Section
titled What is a complaint? specifies: When assessing whether to treat a contact as a complaint or a service request each case will be considered on its individual merits and consideration may be given to the following factors. This list is not exhaustive:
- Whether the customer has been made aware of the complaints procedure and has identified their contact as being a complaint.
- What the expression of dissatisfaction is about.
- The tone of the correspondence.
- What the customer would like to happen next.
- Whether the matter has already been treated as a service request.
Code provision 1.6
Requirement
An expression of dissatisfaction with services made through a survey is not defined as a complaint, though wherever possible, the person completing the survey should be made aware of how they can pursue a complaint if they wish to. Where landlords ask for wider feedback about their services, they also must provide details of how residents can complain.
Do we comply?
Yes
Evidence
Questions 22 of the 2023 STAR Survey was ‘Oxford City Council changed their complaints procedure. You can make a complaint by phoning The Council, writing to customer services or filling in the online customer feedback form. Were you aware of how to make a complaint before today?’
Commentary / explanation
We will ensure that we provide information on how to make a complaint when we carry and included this in the autumn 2023 STAR survey.
We also gather real-time transactional satisfaction performance on completion of repairs & gas servicing, with direct interventions by team leaders/planners where satisfaction is less than required.
