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Under the Housing Act 1996 all charities which are, or were, Registered Providers with the Regulator of Social Housing (the Regulator), are under a regulatory obligation to provide a complaints procedure.
It is important for all almshouse charities to have available a complaints procedure that provides a mechanism to investigate and resolve complaints raised both by residents and others who interact with the charity.
Charities that are or have been registered with the Regulator are required to join the Housing Ombudsman Service and must abide by its Complaint Handling Code.
Members of the Service must publicise the complaints policy and process. They must also provide residents with contact information for the Ombudsman as part of its regular correspondence with residents. Members of the Scheme must carry out an annual self-assessment of their Policy and their management of complaints against the Code to ensure their complaint handling remains in line with its requirements.
Tiverton Almshouse Trust must provide an annual submission to the Housing Ombudsman, to include:
- It’s Complaints policy
- A completed self-assessment
- An annual complaints performance and service improvement report
- A response from their Board of Trustees to demonstrate that they have scrutinised the contents of the report and are satisfied that the report is an accurate reflection of the landlord’s position.
The complaints policy will be reviewed on an annual basis.