Brighton and Hove City Council (202310560)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202310560

Brighton and Hove City Council

28 February 2025

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of concerns about a gas safety check warning letter sent to the resident on 19 June 2023.

Background

2. The resident has a secure tenancy with the landlord, which began on 7 May 2007. The landlord is a housing association. The resident lives in a one-bedroom flat. The resident has health issues, which the landlord is aware of.
3. On 23 June 2023, the resident complained to the landlord about receiving a second notice letter for an annual gas safety inspection to take place on 3 July 2023 that warned of possible forced entry into their home if ignored. The resident:
   1. Said the contractor had cancelled appointments for 2 June 2023, 16 June 2023 and 3 July 2023.
   2. Said the contractor had confirmed that another contractor would take over annual gas inspections from 28 June 2023.
   3. Asked who is responsible for sending such letters.
   4. Questioned whether this was discrimination or some form of racist behaviour against them.
   5. Requested confirmation that no one intended to force entry into their home.
4. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 26 June 2023 and issued a stage 1 complaint response on 4 July 2023. The landlord’s response provided a timeline of letters and missed appointments, as follows:
   1. A letter dated 22 May 2023 confirmed a gas safety visit would take place on  2 June 2023.
   2. The contractor phoned on 2 June 2023 to cancel the appointment for that day due to the engineer having an emergency at their home.
   3. The contractor phoned to arrange another appointment for 16 June 2023.
   4. The contractor cancelled the appointment for 16 June 2023 on the day of the appointment and confirmed a new contractor would be taking over on 28 June 2023.
   5. A second notice letter dated 19 June 2023 a third appointment for 3 July 2023.
   6. On 23 June 2023, the contractor phoned to cancel the appointment for 3 July 2023.
5. The landlord’s response also:
   1. Apologised for the missed appointments.
   2. Confirmed a change of contractor, effective from 28 June 2023.
   3. Explained that letters were automatically generated, whereby the computer system searches for a valid gas safety certificate and books appointments with no way to stop this.
   4. Assured the resident that it was not targeting them, nor were letters racially motivated as they were generated and issued automatically. The landlord apologised for any upset caused.
   5. Explained that it starts its booking process around 2 months before the expiry of an existing gas safety certificate.
   6. Confirmed the contractor would contact the resident to book an inspection.
6. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and asked to escalate the complaint to stage 2 on 11 July 2023. In summary, the resident said:
   1. There must be a way of preventing letters being sent.
   2. The landlord should be aware that appointment cancellations would likely occur in the days surrounding the change of contractor.
7. The landlord acknowledged the escalation request on 11 July 2023 and issued a stage 2 response on 20 July 2023. In summary, the landlord:
   1. Acknowledged the resident’s complaint that it was not ok to send warning letters for gas safety checks where the reason for the delay was not the resident’s fault. It confirmed the delays were caused by cancellations by the previous contractor.
   2. Apologised that the resident had received a gas safety check warning letter after the contractor had cancelled appointments.
   3. Explained that it had checked how it organises and sends gas safety letters.
   4. Apologised that it wasn’t possible to prevent letters being sent out, even when the delay was not the resident’s fault. It explained that the process of sending letters is automated for over 10,000 homes to ensure compliance of gas safety checks for the safety of residents.
   5. Explained it was pleased there was a statement on the warning letter asking the resident to disregard the letter if they had already confirmed an appointment.
   6. Confirmed the resident could contact the Ombudsman if they remained unhappy.
8. The resident referred their complaint to the Ombudsman on 20 July 2023. The complaint became one that this Service could consider on 8 May 2024.

Assessment and findings

Scoping

9. The evidence provided for the purposes of this investigation includes correspondence about possible discrimination. It is outside the scope of this Service to determine if discrimination has taken place, as these are legal terms that are better suited for a court to decide. However, we can look at whether the landlord responded fairly and appropriately to the resident’s concerns.

Policies and procedures

10. The tenancy confirms that the tenant agrees to provide access for any person authorised by the council to enter the premises for the annual servicing of gas appliances to meet health and safety standards.
11. Clause 3.2 of the landlord’s Gas Safety Standard states, ‘All gas installations and appliances must be serviced annually’.
12. The landlord’s Gas Access Procedure sets out that it starts its gas servicing from month 10 into the annual service. The procedure sets out that it will try to visit 3 times to carry out gas safety checks, after which it would refer the matter for a forced entry appointment.

Landlord’s handling of concerns about a gas safety check warning letter

13. The resident initially received an annual gas safety inspection letter to confirm an appointment for 2 June 2023, which the contractor cancelled on the day of the appointment. The contractor arranged a second appointment for 16 June 2023 but again cancelled on the day of the appointment. The contractor then issued a second visit warning letter dated 19 June 2023 for a third appointment date of 3 July 2023, which it also cancelled with a new contractor due to take over on 28 June 2023.
14. The second visit warning letter informed the resident of the possibility of forced entry into their home due to previous appointments not going ahead. The warning resulted from the contractor cancelling appointments. This prompted the resident to complain to the landlord and seek an assurance that no one intended to force entry into their home.
15. When responding to the complaint, the landlord confirmed that the contractor cancelled the first appointment due to a personal emergency. It is unclear why the contractor cancelled the second appointment without prior notice. Although unavoidable for the first appointment, we consider that cancelling appointments without prior notice likely inconvenienced the resident.
16. The resident complained that they should not have received a warning letter when they were not at fault. The resident also expressed concern about the possibility of being targeted or discriminated against.
17. The landlord investigated the process of sending appointment letters for annual gas safety visits to check whether it could prevent sending warning letters where residents were not at fault for appointments not going ahead. The landlord assured the resident that it had not targeted or discriminated against them and explained that its letter sending process was automated, which meant it could not stop the letters. The landlord informed the resident of the importance of sending such letters to ensure the safety of residents. However, it acknowledged the impact of its second notice warning letter on the resident and apologised for any upset caused. We are satisfied that the landlord investigated and responded to the resident’s complaint at each stage of its complaints process in a timely manner, setting out its position in response to the resident’s concerns.
18. Although the landlord apologised for the cancelled appointments, we consider it would have been reasonable for the landlord to offer compensation to acknowledge the impact caused by the contractor cancelling the first 2 appointments without prior notice. The late cancellation of these appointments likely inconvenienced the resident and led to the second visit warning letter being sent. We consider the landlord’s failure to sufficiently recognise the impact caused by the cancellations that resulted in the resident receiving a warning letter represents a service failure for which it is required to pay £50 compensation.
19. The landlord has explained that it has learned from issues resulting from a changeover between contractors and setting up the booking system under the new contractor for when it changes contractors in the future. It has therefore not been necessary to make orders relating to this issue.

Determination

20. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was a service failure regarding the landlord’s handling of concerns about a gas safety check warning letter sent to the resident on 19 June 2023.

Orders

1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must provide a written apology for its service failure.

2. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must pay £50 compensation for its service failure.
3. The landlord must confirm compliance with these orders within the timeframe set out above.