Service Improvement Report 24/25

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) introduced a revised Complaints Handling Code in 2024. This report shows complaints performance against the Complaint Handling Code and the service improvements made during 2024/25.

On the 6^th January 2025 Wrekin Housing Group and Housing Plus Group merged creating an organisation managing 33,000 homes across Telford, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Homes Plus and Wrekin Housing Group continue to operate as the legal Landlord entities.

The self-assessment as a newly merged organisation was submitted on 31 March 2025. Through due diligence and the self-assessment, it was recognised that we were not compliant with some aspects of the Complaints Handling Code, specifically related to responding to complaints within the timescales. An action plan was developed to demonstrate how we intended to move to compliant from 1 April 2025. This included actions such as one complaints management system, moving to a centralised Customer Advocacy Team, strengthening reporting through the governance framework and further embedding learning from complaints. Initial indicators for Quarter 1 2025/26 are that those actions have been effective with over 95% of Stage 1 complaints responded to within the relevant timescales. Whilst our position for 2024/25 remains none compliant in some areas, considerable progress has been made.

This performance and service improvement report looks across both organisations for 2024/25. It also highlights the key service improvements made during the year and those planned as part of our merger with a key aim being to deliver great services to our customers.

The report will include analysis of performance at both stages of the complaints process and also any Housing Ombudsman determinations. Service Improvements have been made based on complaints and improving services for customers is one of the four key aims of the merger.

Governing Body Response:

During early merger discussions in 2024/25, complaints handling was identified as a key area of focus for the new organisation. This reflected both the need to improve the current percentage of complaints responded to within required timescales, and the additional considerations that a merger entails. From the outset of the proposed merger, work was undertaken to enhance complaint handling for Housing Plus Group customers, drawing on key lessons from other merged organisations and the Housing Ombudsman Service’s Spotlight report on complaints handling during mergers.

The Board and Executive Team have overseen an improvement plan to address areas where we are not yet meeting the Complaint Handling Code, prioritising these for action. The Board is pleased with the significant progress made to date and remains committed to building on this to ensure customers receive a prompt, effective complaints service, with lessons learned used to drive service improvements. We also remain focused on sustaining and expanding these improvements to achieve full compliance throughout 2025/26, as part of our broader merger objective of delivering excellent services to our customers and communities.

Member Responsible for Complaints response:

The areas of non-compliance are recognised as largely being a product of resourcing and process issues, which resulted in poor outcomes for some customers. Excellent progress has been made since the merger. Complaints handling has been a high priority including addressing the root causes such as repairs backlog. This is providing assurance that HPG is highly likely to be compliant for 2025/26.

Governance

Prior to merger, reporting of complaints performance and learning was through the Customer Committee at Wrekin Housing Group and the Customer Experience Committee at Housing Plus Group. They oversaw all complaint performance and could trigger a more in-depth review of a service where a theme occurred.

When the organisations merged on the 6^th January a new Service Performance and Customer Experience Committee (SPaCE) formed. The Committee plays a key role in assurance, including to Board, in relation to all aspects of the consumer standards. This particularly focusses on the customer voice shaping services. The Committee review a complaints report at each of their meetings. The Chair of the SPaCE committee is also the Member Responsible for Complaints and a non-Executive Board Member and receives separate reports ensuring that complaint performance reporting is a priority for the organisation and also Board.

The Board also approved the self-assessment post-merger and the improvement plan that accompanied this.

Self-assessment & action plan

The self-assessment completed for 2024/25 is a combined assessment and shows where we are or are not compliant in the Complaint Handling Code. Below are highlights from the action plan to ensure compliance. You can find the full 2024/25 Self Assessment here.

Improve response timescales by:

• The implementation of one complaints management system across the Group from April 2025 which will automate elements of the process, improve reporting and drive efficiencies in terms of resource. This in turn will improve the overall customer experience and ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman complaint handling code.

Improve learning from complaints by:

• A full complaints service review to be completed during 2025/26 across both organisations to enable to Group to move forward with one harmonised complaint handling approach, which will;
• Enhance learning across the Group and collectively tackle repeat/root causes of complaints

Improve positive complaints handling culture

• Customer Care training across the Group, bringing the newly merged organisations vision and values to life for both customers and staff.
• Improved performance reporting framework to be developed, bringing into focus a customer first approach to complaints handing.

Number of complaint received at Stage 1

The above chart details the performance achieved by landlord and combined for all stage 1 complaints received, acknowledged and responded to within the Housing Ombudsman timescales of 15 working days or within extension.

Carrying out repairs within published Service Level Agreement is a key cause of complaints within Homes Plus. This is in some part driven by the age of stock, a poorly performing gas contractor and the information being stored across multiple housing systems leading to errors and inaccuracies. Changes implemented to address these include booking of repairs more efficiently, by moving the schedulers to sit within the contact centre. Higher satisfaction levels with the contracting of 3 new gas contractors to replace the previous one, and finally better access to data on our tenants and assets by the implementation of a new housing management system in time.

The number of escalations to stage 2 are lower for Wrekin with only 5% of complaints escalating to stage 2 of the process due to being unhappy with the response and resolution at stage 1. The service area with the greatest number of escalations is repairs with 40% of all stage 2’s, however, with 376 complaints in total this is only 4% of repairs complaints. As a service review is undertaken across the new organisation, a key focus will remain on how we can solve problems at the earliest possible opportunity; recognising this is central for customers.

During Q1 there were significant challenges within the Homes Plus team regarding resource that impacted the ability to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days of receiving them. Whilst improvement has been seen throughout the rest of the year, this area of non- compliance has been identified in the self-assessment submitted to the Ombudsman and actions have already taken place to move to a position of compliance from 1st April 2025, including the implementation of one complaints management system.

The above chart details the performance achieved by landlord and combined for all stage 2 complaints received, acknowledged and responded to within the HO timescales of 25 working days or within extension.

Wrekin have received 1 determination report from the Housing Ombudsman, the investigation showed that Wrekin had complied with the Complaint Handling Code and received no maladministration’s, service failures or recommendations. There is 1 complaint still being investigated with Housing Ombudsman and we are awaiting the determination.

Homes Plus have received 18 determination reports in the 2024/2025, resulting in 27 adverse findings and 9 findings of no maladministration or redress. The chart above details the findings against service/complaint areas.

Learning has been taken on board for all these determinations, and compliance has been maintained with all orders.

Satisfaction with the complaint handling service overall:

Wrekin – 48%

Homes Plus – 61%

Satisfaction with the complaint handling service is gathered via transactional surveys for both organisations, however the service is delivered differently (devolved approach at Wrekin and centralised approach at Homes Plus).

At Wrekin the transactional survey is sent via email or text and there is a very low response rate of completion. Homes Plus surveys are completed via telephone and an external provider. This method has a higher sample size of completions.

Where customers have advised they are dissatisfied with the process, these cases are reviewed and action taken if required.

The complaints service review that is taking place during 2025/26 will influence the new approach to this service delivery during 2025/26, for implementation the following year, or sooner if practicable. This review will include a harmonised approach to customer satisfaction data gathering.

The above chart shows satisfaction with complaint handling which was completed through the TSM Perception Surveys, with a combined result of 40%, which is median quartile.

Service improvements - learning from complaints

Wrekin

We are consistently looking at service improvements for our customers, and learning from complaints is a key area of focus for the coming year.

At the start of April 2024, a decision was made to change the way in which Housing was provided, dividing areas into localities and focusing on cross team working. By having 6 locality areas all service areas can interact and ensure that complaint themes are looked at and learned from. This has shown good impact with teams working together more closely for complex situations, in particular.

Learning outcomes within the development service area resulted in the team looking at the defects process, this was to ensure that any defects reported didn’t fall between us and the contractor which caused delays for the customer. The team have also made changes to the requirements we ask for in new homes due to the complaint learnings.

From January to March 2025 a decrease in complaints caused by communication and not responding to customer calls and emails was seen. This area improved because of the housing management workflow process; workflows can be logged to the individual ensuring that they contact within a specific timeframe.

Homes Plus

Complaints have been a key focus for the new organisation post and pre-merger, with a commitment to improve the service for customers, meet prescribed timescales and to strengthen and embed the learning from complaints across the business.

Due to the resource challenges and subsequent backlog of complaints, service improvement has not been given the level of focus that had been planned. However, there has still been some significant improvements made, such as;

Before merger:​

• Implementation of the centralised Complaint Service
• Introducing Schedulers into the Contact Centre to improve communication
• Increased home visits by the Customer Advocacy Team to build customer relationships and get a greater understanding of complex needs and vulnerabilities
• Improvements made to sign up packs, for ease of access to information such as new QR code.

Post-merger:

• New Complaints Policy

As the service stabilises and becomes compliant with HO timescales, focus will move to quality, learning and service improvement. This will enable us to start reducing avoidable complaints and improve customer satisfaction.

The focus in Q1 & Q2 will be;

• Moving the Complaints Service onto a single system
• Moving Repairs Service onto a single system
• Reviewing the Repairs Policy
• Focusing on reducing the repairs backlog
• Launch the Complaints Service review, to design a new joint operating model
• Develop an interim Quality Framework
• Relaunch the Service Improvement Committee and focus on service improvement across all customer feedback
• Review compensation & identify learnings

As a newly merged organisation one of the four key objectives was to deliver excellent services to customers and communities. Our integration plan will re-design services over the next 2 years. This is a central way to deliver changes for customers but we will also continue to make ongoing service improvements such as amending policies and processes to drive forward services.