Cabinet, at its meeting on 18 June 2025, will consider a report to approve the Annual Complaint Performance & Service Improvement Report (Landlord Services) 2024/25.

Cllr Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Nerys Parry, Director of Housing, and Kat Mayes, Customer Care & Complaints Manager, have been invited to present the report and answer questions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 18 June 2025, will consider a report to approve the Annual Complaint Performance & Service Improvement Report (Landlord Services) 2024/25.  

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Kat Mayes, Customer Care & Complaints Manager, and Bill Graves, Landlord Services Manager, were present to respond to questions.  

The Committee was asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations. 

Councillor Smith presented the report, summarising that the report contains positive and negative news. The Committee heard that ODS has made considerable progress with complaints handling which has supported a reduction in complaint numbers and increased efficiency in response rates. This was explained to be because of new technology and improved ways of working. On the Council side however, Councillor Smith noted disappointment that responses to complaints have not been as prompt as desired, but the Committee were assured that measures have been put in place to address this, such as increases in staff numbers. Despite this, the Committee understood that the quality of responses to tenancy complaints specifically had improved, and Councillor Smith thanked the Customer Care and Complaints Manager for this.  

The Landlord Services Manager provided some context to the team, explaining that that the team responsible for managing complaints experienced a significant staff shortage over the last year which left only one colleague managing complaints. The Committee learned that the team has now successfully recruited two further officers.  

The Customer Care and Complaints Manager outlined the content of the report noting that it is an annual requirement from the Housing Ombudsman which must be published on the Council’s website. The report is for the benefit of residents and enables comparison with figures from the previous year.  The Committee heard that the figures have reduced due to support from ODS complaints on the Council’s behalf.  

The Chair invited questions from the Committee.  

Councillor Ottino queried whether information on similar performance metrics from the housing associations in Oxford is available to inform the Committee as to how the Council is performing comparably. More information on the tenancy involvement strategy was also requested.  

The Customer Care and Complaints Manager explained that benchmark comparison is not possible at present as no other comparable reports have been released yet by Housing Associations. The Committee understood that once this data is acquired, the officers will assess the data and identify patterns to track at national and local levels. The Customer Care and Complaints Manager hoped that this would help in holding the Council to account and ensuring actions being taken accurately in response to tenant requests.   

The Chair queried when this data comparison would be ready to which the Landlord Services Manager explained that the results are usually published in six-month blocks. As such, the next available data would be expected in late autumn and could be analysed from then onwards. It was clarified that the Council is reliant on publication dates of other organisations in order to proceed with this work.  

Councillor Smith provided an update on the tenant engagement strategy, noting that a roadshow has taken place over recent months featuring pop up stalls in many public areas. The Committee heard the positive news that engagement was high and close to 200 tenants have expressed the desire to be involved in future work. Councillor Smith confirmed that the online launch would be taking place on 24 June, and many tenants will be invited to join.  

The Chair invited the Committee to discuss recommendations.  

The Committee resolved to make the following recommendation(s) on the report to Cabinet: 

1. That future complaints handling reports include benchmarking data from other housing providers, particularly those operating at a local level, to help assess the Council’s performance in context and support continuous improvement. 

The Chair thanked the cabinet member and officers.  

Councillor Smith, the Care & Complaints Manager, and the Landlord Services Manager left the meeting.