Ombudsman Says ‘Yes’ to HouseMark Scheme

The SPSO has now joined HouseMark’s 'Ombudsman Says' initiative - a unique scheme that encourages information sharing across the social housing landscape in Scotland, England and Wales.  HouseMark is jointly owned by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation to improve performance in complaints handling via an easy to access portal for staff of social housing.

HouseMark’s online initiative ‘Ombudsman Says’ which was set up in conjunction with the Housing Ombudsman in England in April 2009 gives public access to case digests of the most important Ombudsman decisions.  The service has since expanded to include the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and the Local Government Ombudsman and most recently the SPSO.

Through the ‘Ombudsman Says’ section of the site, we can share our key housing sector investigation reports and news with housing staff of all levels in Scotland and throughout the UK.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Jim Martin, says:

“We are delighted to join this initiative and welcome the benefits it will bring landlords and their tenants. This service offers a valuable learning tool for registered social landlords in Scotland and elsewhere.”
 
HouseMark’s deputy chief executive Sam McGrady, says:
 
“Now those people interested in how issues are resolved will be able to access case digests from across England, Wales and Scotland from one public website.”

‘Ombudsman Says’ can be found at www.ombudsmansays.info.  The case digests can also be found in the HouseMark’s subscriber website in a section of the Knowledge Base entitled ‘Ombudsman Says’.