Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Sanctuary (Scotland) Housing Association Ltd

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Upheld Reference 201800699 Sector Local Government Category repairs and maintenance Decided 01 February 2019

Full decision

Summary

Ms C complained that the association took an unreasonable amount of time to fix problems she reported about her windows. After Ms C reported an issue, the association attended a number of times, with the contractor, over the next 11  months.

We found that there was poor communication with Ms C about what progress was being made to remedy problems with the windows. Ms C had to chase up responses and at the point of reaching a decision on her complaint, there was still disagreement about whether the windows had been fixed properly. Therefore, we upheld Ms C's complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case: Apologise to Ms C for taking an unreasonable amount of time to remedy problems she reported with her windows. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/leaflets-and-guidance.

Arrange for a suitably qualified person (independent of the contractor) to attend to assess the windows and for any remedial action required to be promptly taken.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201800699 as a PDF (25.24 KB) Updated: February 20, 2019

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website

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