Recommendation 31

HM Government Not Addressed

We welcome the Committee’s support for our work on systemic issues. Investigating the systemic failures giving rise to complaints is a core aspect of a modern Ombudsman’s role and promotes a positive complaint handling culture. The issues we look at build a picture of the quality of residents’ homes or address sector-wide systemic failings responding to complaints. We publish upcoming report topics for our sector-wide systemic investigations on our website. We are encouraged by social landlords’ response to the systemic investigations we have published and the high level of engagement we have seen - our Spotlight reports have been accessed more than 9,000 times on our website and 66% of landlords who responded to our annual landlord survey said they had changed their policy or practice as a result of reports. These reports inform the best practice we consider as part of our formal investigations and are reflected in any remedies we make. Increasingly landlords are developing action plans in response to our systemic work and we aim to share the good practice arising from these with the sector to promote learning. This extends to our further investigation into individual landlords under paragraph 50 of our Scheme, as well as our examination of sector-wide systemic issues. We are developing our approach, including the use of calls for evidence and fieldwork with selected landlords, to supplement our casebook. We will also develop Spotlight report-specific self-assessment guidance for landlords to use when considering our recommendations and we will be revising our expectations of what landlords should do when we publish a report. These changes will be set out in an updated systemic framework during 2023. We are also considering inviting residents and landlords to propose subject areas direct to the Ombudsman for consideration for investigation, while the decision to investigate will remain at the Ombudsman’s discretion. The sector-wide failings investigated by the Ombudsman and our approach taken is complementary to the Regulator of Social Housing, whose systemic powers will typically focus on an individual landlord. The Regulator may identify risks arising from its consumer regulation and those risks may inform the Ombudsman’s programme of systemic investigations. Where we undertake a wider learning investigation into an individual landlord under paragraph 50 of our Scheme, we share the report with the Regulator. As proactive consumer regulation develops, we would expect our work to inform the Regulator’s programme of inspections. Under the revised Memorandum of Understanding, the Ombudsman will work with the Regulator on the framework for sharing information and intelligence between the two organisations and we will work with the Regulator to identify ways in which we can use our combined powers to improve the resident experience and drive up standards.