An interview with Queens Cross Housing Association

Queens Cross value tenant feedback

An interview with Aberdeen City Council

Our Complaints Standards unit interviewed Barbara McDonald, of Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to find out about their approach to developing and implementing compliant model complaints handling procedures (CHPs).

Barbara is a Complaints Officer working in the Customer Service and Performance section of the Corporate Governance unit of the council. She was a key member of the Local Authority working group which developed the local authority model CHP.

An interview with Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association

Background

Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association (CREHA) owns or manages 6,000 homes and works with over 8,000 customers. It is based in Craigmillar, one of Edinburgh’s main urban regeneration areas.

The Association is a member of Places for People, and is one of the UK’s largest property development and management organisations.

Castle Rock describes itself as ‘a modern, progressive organisation committed to the long term success of our neighbourhoods.’

Since 2012 the SPSO's Complaints Standards Unit has worked closely with a range of partners and stakeholders to develop and implement Model Complaints Handling Procedures (MCHPs) for each public service sector.

Local authorities are required to report on their complaint handling performance on an annual basis. Their reports must include performance statistics showing the volume and type of complaints and details such as the time taken to investigate a complaint and the stage at which complaints are resolved.

Below you will find a list of each local authority area in Scotland and a link to their annual complaints reports.

Complaint investigators need multiple skills to carry out their role effectively. They need to be good listeners, project planners, critical thinkers, reasoned decision makers, effective communicators and change managers. Investigators within an organisation also act as critical friend to their own organisation similar to the work of internal auditors. This can be a difficult balance to achieve and even harder to demonstrate.

This tool has been designed to help guide investigators through this challenging process.

The Complaints improvement framework has been developed to help organisations assess and demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of their overall complaints handling arrangements. This includes how well the organisation handles and responds to complaints, how accessible the complaints procedure is and the effectiveness of its governance and monitoring arrangements.

Developing the Model Complaints Handing Procedures

The Complaints Standards Authority interviewed a number of organisations about their experiences of developing complaints handling processes using our Model Complaints Handling Procedures (MCHPs).

Thank you to everybody who participated in the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) conference on 15 March 2017. Please find below the resources and materials from the event.