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Housing Ombudsman launches investigation into ‘systemic’ issue of poor record-keeping
The Housing Ombudsman has launched a call for evidence ahead of its latest investigation into the “systemic and sector-wide” issue of record-keeping and data management.
Social landlord complaint handlers have been invited to provide evidence for the ombudsman’s latest probe, which will aim to “understand more” about the current barriers to information management.
The body has identified repeated examples of poor practice in the cases it has looked into, and said that 67% of its investigations upheld in 2021-22 involved poor records.
Announcing its intention to investigate the issue earlier this year, the ombudsman highlighted examples of poor record-keeping within individual housing associations.
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This included a finding of maladministration against L&Q after the landlord failed to keep robust records in a complaint about the end of a resident’s tenancy and their deposit following a bereavement.
Just last week, the ombudsman ordered a Northern social housing provider to pay £1,800 in compensation to a resident over three findings of severe maladministration, including poor record-keeping.
An investigation had found that Johnnie Johnson Housing in Cheadle failed to keep appropriate records of the resident’s reports of anti-social behaviour and destroyed the file within two years, contrary to its data-retention guide.
Last week, Inside Housing also revealed that faulty record-keeping led Incommunities, the Yorkshire landlord, to mistakenly report that 1,802 of its homes had breached the Decent Homes Standard.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “Our previous Spotlight reports have covered a wide range of topics, but poor record-keeping has been repeatedly identified as a driver of poor service. This can result in residents experiencing inadequate responses, delays and things not being put right.
“It is a systemic, sector-wide issue and that’s why we’re focusing on it as the subject of our next investigation and the topic of a Spotlight report in its own right.”
According to the ombudsman, evidence submitted by social landlords will help it make recommendations that promote greater understanding of the importance of information and knowledge management.
The report will also share best practice and help landlords to develop their policies and procedures, with a view to improving the experience of all residents.
Tenants were invited to share their experiences and give views on their landlords’ practices through discussion forums with members of the ombudsman’s resident panel. Feedback from those forums, together with submissions to the call for evidence, will form part of the investigation.
Mr Blakeway added: “The fact that more than two-thirds of our determinations with a finding of maladministration have identified record-keeping as an issue should be a cause of concern for landlords, particularly their governing bodies. There are real benefits for services by getting record-keeping right and our report will support landlords in doing just that.”
The final report on record-keeping and data management will be published next year.
