To note the above report and recommendations.

Councillor McWilliams, Principal Member for Housing (RBWM) addressed the Committee and informed the Panel that he had personally written to Mr X (complainant) and that he had reiterated the apology on behalf of the Royal Borough once further and had also informed Mr X of the remedial action that had been undertaken or was in progress by RBWM as a direct result of the recommendations raised by the Local Government & Social Ombudsmen( LGO). It was highlighted that the recommendations as raised within the LGO report were being looked at seriously and that processes and the service had been looked at and changes had been implemented.

Andy Jeffs, Executive Director outlined the report and informed the Panel that RBWM had received a draft report from the LGO on the 28^th November 2017 following investigations into a complaint (ref-16003062) which had been received by Mr X (originating from December 2015). Andy Jeffs wished to offer a formal apology in relation to any distress that had been caused to Mr X by any actions or omissions by RBWM. The draft response was dealt with by the Head of Service immediately and work had begun on all of the recommendations as suggested by the LGO at this point in time. The Lead and Principal Member had been notified when the final report was received in February 2018. When the original complaint was made, the Lead Member was notified on the 8^th March 2018. The LGO report concluded that RBWM had been at fault and were outlined in the report.

The Panel were informed that when the draft report had been received on the 28^th November 2017 that all the recommendations had been reviewed and accepted. As a result RBWM completed various actions and details of these were outlined in the original report. In addition to the remedial actions, a number of additional actions had been made to better improve and strengthen the Housing service. Firstly that the Housing enabling service and Housing Options team had moved to one directorate as of April 2018. The Panel were also informed that there would be one database to record all decision and case work details and that there was also an experienced Housing lead starting. Further to this work was being carried out to develop the Housing Strategy, Allocations Policy and to refresh the Homeless Strategy later this year but that work had already begun on reviewing the current policies and strategies.

At the Conclusion of the report, Members were reminded that the report had been brought to the Planning and Housing Overview & Scrutiny Panel as it was the most appropriate panel for this report. Members asked whether Mr X was settled and content and it was confirmed that he remained in permanent accommodation and had been informed of the most appropriate contacts for future use. Members asked for a summary of complaints that had been received and Andy Jeffs confirmed that the Royal Borough had received 48 complaints from the LGO (In 2016/17) and that three had been incomplete or invalid, 20 had been referred back for local resolution, 12 had been closed after initial enquiries and the remaining 13 had resulted in detailed investigations of which six had been upheld and seven were not. The Royal Borough had an upheld rate of 46% which was below the national average of 53%.

ACTION- That Andy Jeffs circulate the cumulative costs of all Housing related complaints to Panel Members along with reasons for each complaint.

The Panel were informed that there was a further obligation to respond to the LGO to outline the actions and changes to processes. It was confirmed that this correspondence had been sent to the LGO and had outlined the various implemented changes which had been made to the Housing Service and processes. This report was to be publically available in two Council buildings and the two mandatory statutory notices had been published in local newspapers on the 23^rd March 2018. There was confidence in the proposed and implemented changes that they were robust and would help strengthen the Housing Service. There had been a previous reliance on manual record keeping and the Panel were informed that a new system would be live later this year. Along with the changes and implemented changes, Russell O’Keefe, Executive Director-Place updated the Panel that Maggie Nelson had been employed as the new interim Housing Service Lead who was experienced and would help to strengthen and improve the current Housing structure and service. 

Members discussed whether there had been a staff shortage and whether pressures faced by officers contributed to the complaint. Alison Alexander, Managing Director confirmed that there had been no staff shortages and that this particular complaint had stemmed from a number of faults which had been outlined fully in the LGO report which had not highlighted any staffing concerns. Members discussed the presentation on the Homeless Strategy that was heard at the Panel last year and that it had been a useful session.

ACTION- That Members have a training session when the new Housing System was implemented and that an update be heard at full council in the Autumn.

Members discussed the time scales for the implementation of the Housing, Allocations and Homeless Strategy and whether this could be implemented sooner. It was confirmed that the strategies would be implemented later in the year after a full consultation had been carried out.

Resolved That; The report be noted.

(Councillor Beer abstained from voting on the resolution)