Kirklees council housing complaints revealed

Complaints made by tenants in Kirklees housing are on the rise, with the average cost of handling complaints over budget and nearly £18,000 paid out in compensation last year.

In 2023/24, a total of 1,031 formal complaints were received against Kirklees Council, with a report at this week’s cabinet meeting setting out the local authority’s complaint handling performance in its Homes and Neighborhoods service, under the Code for handling complaints of the Housing Ombudsman. .

Between 22/23 and 23/24, the number of new complaints lodged increased from 554 to 826.

There are two stages to Kirklees Council’s housing complaints process, with tenants being able to take their complaint to ‘Stage Two’ where they are unhappy with the outcome of their initial complaint. If problems are still not resolved, complaints can be made to the Housing Ombudsman – the independent public body for complaints in the social housing sector.

Read more: Police hunt eight men after brutal attack – and they could be Huddersfield Town fans

As a result of complaints handled by the ombudsman, the council was forced to pay a total of £2,320 last year as three maladministration determinations were made.

The council once ordered him to pay £1,250 for his handling of a tenant’s reports of mold and damp and a subsequent complaint that was made. In another case, the council had to pay £650 for dealing with a complaint about anti-social behavior and damage to a tenant’s property.

The final case saw the council pay £425 in compensation for delays in completing repairs to the tenant’s leaking shower, £75 of that to make up for “poor complaints handling”.

However, of its £18,700 compensation budget, the local authority spent £17,796.

As well as compensation costs, the report explains that, taking into account the 1,031 formal complaints made last year, it cost an average of £200 to administer each one. Complaints are currently said to be dealt with by a team of five full-time equivalent staff on a budget of £195,995 for last year.

The majority of complaints were related to repairs or the condition of properties, with “staff capacity” highlighted as a contributing factor. It says the problems arose primarily because of “poor information” provided to tenants and a “lack of communication” from the council.

Around sixty percent of all complaints were upheld, which was considered a “clear indication” that further changes in service, competence and conduct were needed to improve customer satisfaction.

The report adds: “If a manager takes an average of three hours to investigate and respond, the average cost will be at least £300 to resolve each complaint received, or almost £300,000 a year.”

Responding to the report at the meeting, Council leader Cllr Cathy Scott, who also holds the portfolio for housing, said: “We are not the best but we strive to be.”

She added: “There is still a long way to go but we are committed as a council to driving for excellence and what is best for Kirklees housing.”

Following the meeting, Cllr Scott said: “By undertaking this self-assessment exercise and reporting back on complaints and self-improvement, we have been able to take a deep look at what we are doing well and what we can do better. Most of the complaints we receive are about customers feeling uninformed about steps being taken to fix a problem, rather than a failure to fix a problem with their home.”

“This deal has led to a number of improvements to our customer service and complaints procedures, which should mean that complaints are easier to make, dealt with more quickly and complainants feel they are kept informed about the process complaint resolution from start to finish.

“Other improvements include staff training on our service standards and complaints handling process, an ongoing review of policies, including the Repairs and Maintenance Policy and current access denial procedures, to ensure that the total number of complaints is reduced to at least in the future.”

Get all the latest and breaking Huddersfield news straight to your inbox sign up for our daily newsletter here.