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ROUPELL PARK RESIDENT MANAGEMENT CO-OP

COMPLAINTS

SERVICE STANDARD

WHAT IS A SERVICE STANDARD?

A Service Standard lets you know what we should be doing on your estate. It allows you to look at the service we are providing and to assess whether we are doing what we said we would.

If you understand the service we are supposed to be providing, it allows you to help us to monitor how we are doing. It therefore allows us to improve the quality of the service we provide by getting feedback direct from you. You live on the estate so it is your views that are important.

Dealing with complaints is important to us. We don’t get enough. We view complaints as a valuable way of learning about the service we provide and a way to make sure we continue to improve the service we offer.

This Service Standard was set after consultation with the residents on the estate which included holding a meeting with all the residents on the estate. It was then agreed by the RPRMO Board.

WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?

Roupell Park Resident Management Organisation (RPRMO) aims to provide its residents with services that are of a consistently high quality. But things sometimes go wrong and when they do, we want to make sure that we quickly put them right and learn from our mistakes. RPRMO recognises the importance of complaints in helping to achieve this aim and welcomes them as a valuable form of feedback about our services.

The Housing Ombudsman defines a complaint as -

‘A complaint shall be defined as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.’

This means telling us that we have done something wrong or have not met your expectations. This means -  

  • If you are reporting a repair for the first time that is not a complaint, it is you making a request for a repair. However, if you tell us we did not do the repair on time or did it badly then that is.
  • Reporting anti-social behaviour is not a complaint and is dealt with under our anti-social behaviour procedures. However if you don’t think that we dealt with your report properly then it is our responsibility to ensure you have been heard
  • If you are telling us that our cleaning or grounds maintenance service is not up to scratch then that is a complaint.
  • If you are telling us that a staff member has been rude or have not behaved properly towards you that is a complaint.
  • If you are telling us that we have not followed our policies and procedures then that is a complaint.
  • If the incident causing the complaint is more than six months old and is being reported for the first time this will not be classed as a complaint.
  • Where an issue is subject to existing legal action this will not be counted as a complaint
  • Matters that have already been dealt with as a complaint and have been concluded

DEALING WITH YOUR COMPLAINT

We aim to show our customers that we have:

  • Listened to their concerns
  • Taken them seriously
  • Learnt from our mistakes and use the lessons we have learnt to improve our services.
  • Committed ourselves to providing excellent customer services, dealing with individuals in a courteous and efficient manner
  • Provided a quality approach to investigating complaints that is fair and transparent

You can complain in person in the office, by phone, by letter, email or through our website and we will manage it a follows -

  • If we receive your complaint in writing we will acknowledge within 1 working day of its receipt. Any complaints received verbally will be noted by the member of staff receiving and an acknowledgement given before RPRMO investigates and provides a formal response.
  • If your complaint is about a service that we do not deliver we will ensure that it has been sent to the right person and will tell you to whom we have sent it.
  • If your complaint is about a service we provide then we will carry out an assessment of your complaint and our aim will be to put right the problem. We will respond in 10 working days.
  • We will at every stage keep you informed as to the progress of your complaint including
  • the complaints stage
  • the outcome of the complaint
  • the reasons for any decisions made
  • the details of any remedy offered to put things right
  • details of any outstanding actions
  • details of how to escalate the matter if dissatisfied.

 

At every stage we will give you a fair opportunity to set out your position and on any adverse findings before a final decision is made.

We will always communicate in plain language and we will if necessary provide interpreters or translators to ensure that we communicate with you effectively.

Our reply will deal with all the points raised by you in your complaint and will provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate.  

In most cases the main action we will take is to put things right and the response will set out what has already or will be done to put matters right, along with an apology.

A reply should where appropriate also set out what lessons have been learned and what actions have been taken to avoid a recurrence.

Any claims for compensation will be dealt with under the RPRMO compensation policy.

The complaint will in the first instance be dealt with by the relevant service manager.

Translation of all materials can be made available on request and interpreters available at any stage as required. We will also work with your representative if requested to do so.

If you are not happy with this response then you should contact the Estate Director at the Community Office, email SOelman@lambeth.gov.uk telephone 020 7926 0214. They will respond in 5 working days.

If the complaint is about the Estate Director then you should contact the Chair at chair@roupellpark.co.uk

If you were unhappy with the response of the Estate Director you can request a review of your complaint by the (this is optional).

If you are not satisfied with the RPRMO response, you should appeal in writing to;

Corporate Complaints Unit,
P.O. Box 734
Winchester

S023 5DG
complaints@lambeth.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7 926 6000

 

The Housing Ombudsman will on most cases not deal with a complaint until the internal process has been resolved. However they may be able to give advice in relation to complaints.

They can be contacted at

Housing Ombudsman Service

PO Box 152
Liverpool L33 7WQ

Phone 0300 111 3000

www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

At the end of the complaints process we will ask you to complete a questionnaire about how we handled your complaint.