Governing body response to performance in complaints 2023-24
Statement from the Longhurst Group Board on the Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2023/24 for Teetotal Homes
The 2023/24 financial year we saw one complaint received for Teetotal Homes, this was closed at Stage 1 and was in respect of a missed appointment by the contractor. Notwithstanding this, the Group takes its approach to complaints very seriously and more broadly has introduced a number of factors to improve both its performance in complaint handling across all of its properties and the overall customer experience.
The Group Board have overseen significant investment and changes to the way complaints are handled to ensure that the customer voice is heard clearly throughout the organisation, including at the Board table.
As part of this journey, the Group Board has established a new committee, the Customer Experience Committee, whose role is to fully scrutinise all aspects of complaints, repairs and customer insight mechanisms in more detail. This Committee is responsible for escalating any concerns or areas of opportunity to the Group Board that would enhance the customer experience and improve performance.
The Group’s Member Responsible for Complaints is the Chair of the Customer Experience Committee and he and the other Committee Members have challenged and scrutinised the self-assessment of the Housing Ombudsman’s new Complaints Code, which came into effect on 1st April 2024. Thus, ensuring that the information provided is accurate and a true reflection of the Group’s performance and customer experience.
The Board is pleased to report that Teetotal Homes is compliant with the requirements of the Code from 1st April 2024.
Learning from complaints is important therefore the Board receive an update on complaints performance at every meeting and the Board ensure that individual complaint cases that are required to be reported to the Board have appropriate action and learning plans in place to address service failures.
The Group is confident that it is compliant with the new requirements of the Ombudsman’s Code and to further improve its performance, is working with independent advisers during the rest of the year to ensure that the control environment is robust and that we remain compliant.
The investment and significant changes made over the past year ensures that our customers remain at the heart of everything we do.