Multiple severe maladministration findings on Johnnie Johnson Housing response and record keeping in anti-social behaviour case
10 November 2022
The Housing Ombudsman made three findings of severe maladministration for Johnnie Johnson Housing’s significant failings in responding to a resident’s complaint about anti-social behaviour, together with its record keeping and complaint handling.
We have made three findings of severe maladministration for Johnnie Johnson Housing’s significant failings in responding to a resident’s complaint about anti-social behaviour, together with its record keeping and complaint handling. The cumulative impact of the failings caused significant adverse effect to the resident.
The resident and her son reported that they had been subjected to verbal abuse, threats and intimidation from a neighbour. They were unhappy with what they considered to be a lack of response from the landlord and raised a formal complaint.
We found that the landlord failed to keep appropriate records of the resident’s reports of anti-social behaviour, and destroyed the file within two years, contrary to its data retention guide. The information should still have been available for our investigation and is evidence of poor record keeping. The evidence that was available failed to demonstrate that the landlord had dealt with the resident’s reports appropriately and in line with its policy.
There were further, significant failings in the landlord’s complaint handling. The landlord’s response at stage two of its complaints procedure was limited in detail and explanation. It did not sufficiently address the complaint or acknowledge the resident’s circumstances.
We ordered the landlord to pay compensation of £1,800 to the resident, review its complaints policy with reference to our Complaint Handling Code and review its data retention guidance.
Following our investigation, the landlord’s learning from this case includes appointing a lead on anti-social behaviour, reviewing relevant policies and staff training.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “In this case there were significant gaps in evidence which meant we were unable to get a full understanding of the history and handling of the case.
“Clear record keeping and management is essential where reports of anti-social behaviour are made, and investigations into allegations are undertaken. These records form evidence that the landlord can review and use in managing the case. Accurate and complete records also help the landlord when handling a case through its complaints procedure and also provide evidence for other processes, such as our investigations. The absence of appropriate records, and therefore evidence, presents a significant risk that the processes cannot be fully used and residents are disadvantaged.
“Poor record keeping has been a consistent theme in our casework. That’s why we’ve recently issued a call for evidence to support our next sector-wide systemic investigation which will look at record keeping and data management.
“I welcome the landlord’s response on its learning from this case and the changes being made to improve its service. I would encourage other landlords to consider the learning the case offers for their own services.”
In cases of severe maladministration the Ombudsman invites the landlord to provide a statement on the lessons learned following the decision.
Statement from Johnnie Johnson Housing:
We apologise for any upset this might have caused our resident and their relative, and we thank our Housing Ombudsman for raising this with us to give us a continued opportunity to improve and learn.
When our resident complained to us about neighbouring anti-social behaviour problems in 2018, we worked hard with the police, the courts and mediation services to resolve. Unfortunately, after three months our resident left us. We were very sad to see her go but understood her decision.
Our approach to GDPR was a little too robust which meant, in 2021, when contacted by our Ombudsman, we were not able to provide the full evidence requested.
We continually work to improve our services, to deliver a positive experience for our residents. Improvement actions include:
- Appointing an anti-social behaviour (ASB) lead following our service review with residents
- Reviewing our “Talk to Us” policy following the Social Housing White Paper and the introduction of the Housing Ombudsman’s ‘Complaints Handling Code’
- Further ASB and Complaints training for our colleagues
- Reviewing our data retention schedules, checking GDPR standards
- Updating our letters to include more information on the complaint process and how to escalate
- Improving our housing management system, specifically focusing on ASB and Complaints.
The safety and security of our customers is our number one priority; we pride ourselves on being a listening business. Again, we are sorry for this experience.