Hammersmith and Fulham Council (202318263)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318263

Hammersmith and Fulham Council

1 April 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 the resident’s reports that the bins are not being placed in the correct area and the area is not being properly maintained.
2. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

3. The resident has been the leaseholder and occupier of the property, a 2 bedroom first–floor flat, since 2014. She lives alone. The landlord is a local authority.
4. The resident had previously reported repairs being needed to the bin store and gate. She also raised concerns with the landlord about bins not being put away and the condition of the bin store.
5. On 11 May 2023 the landlord acknowledged that the resident had reported issues with the cleanliness of the bin store on 25 April 2023. It said:
   1. It hired contract monitoring officers who performed block inspections which scored the cleaning and ground maintenance every 6 weeks.
   2. An inspection was done on 26 April 2023 and minimal issues were found.
   3. The resident highlighted further issues on 30 April 2023 and this led to the caretaking team removing all bulk and cleaning the bin store.
   4. It apologised for any inconvenience caused but said the caretaking service only ran from 8am to 12pm and there was no emergency service.
   5. At refuse collection times the area would have heavy amounts of waste, but was then cleaned after refuse collection as part of the weekly tasks.
6. On 15 June 2023 the resident complained that the bins were not being put in their dedicated place. She had sent in several pictures and, although the housing officer had acknowledged the problem, it was ongoing. She wanted the bins kept in the correct area and a deep clean of the tiles.
7. The complaint was acknowledged on 22 June 2023, and the resident was told to expect a response by 6 July 2023. A stage 1 response was then issued on 6 July 2023 and the landlord explained it had told the refuse collection service about the issues and asked that it ensure the bins were returned to the correct area. It had also asked that the caretaker ensure bins were put back in the correct area each morning. It said the caretaker had said they did move the bins every morning, but they would check them more frequently.
8. The resident responded the same day by saying she had checked the area and there was a bin out of place and the tiles were dirty. The landlord said it had reported her concern and it would arrange for a visit soon. The resident then asked for the complaint to be escalated to stage 2.
9. The landlord liaised with the resident between 17 and 19 July 2023 about the issue, along with a repair to a gate that had been reported. It acknowledged the complaint had been escalated to stage 2 on 1 August 2023 and said a response would be issued by 3 August 2023. However, it actually issued its response the same day.
10. The stage 2 response explained that:
    1. The stage 1 response had been addressed by the incorrect department, and it apologised for that.
    2. Someone had visited the building on 31 July 2023 to assess the bin storage areas. The building had 2 bin stores; one on the north side of the building and the other on the south side. It had waste chutes which the bins sat underneath. At the visit the bins were found to be in the correct place and had capacity for all waste.
    3. It had spoken with the housing officer who had said some residents had asked for the bins to be left outside of the bin rooms to facilitate ease of refuse disposal. The housing officer and caretaking teams had both been advised to stop this practice going forward and to ensure bins are returned to the designated area after refuse collection.
    4. It hoped this resolved her complaint but provided contact details for reporting any other issues. 
11. On 13 and 17 August 2023 the resident reported the bins were not in the correct place again. The landlord responded on 18 August 2023 and said the caretaker had placed bins back in the bin store the day before and was not sure if someone had moved it later on. However, the caretaker would check the bins were in the correct place later that day.
12. The resident has said the bins are still not being put in the correct place and there have been 2 bin fires in the past that have caused her concern, as they are a hazard.

Assessment and findings

Resident’s reports that the bins are not being placed in the correct area and the area is not being properly maintained.

13. The landlord has explained that waste collection days for the building are Tuesdays and Fridays with recycle collection on a Wednesday. Caretakers attend on the morning of collections and place bins near to the entrance for ease of access for collections by the waste contractors. The bins are then moved back to their designated position the following day when the caretakers attend to complete their cleaning tasks. Therefore, at certain times during the week, bins are not in their designated positions.
14. The landlord has said there are works taking place at the building (removal of cladding from external areas) which has added to the build-up of dust and dirt. Once these works are completed, the tiles will be cleaned, examined, and assessed for replacement where necessary. Caretakers clean the tiles on a weekly basis but with ongoing works this has proved to be challenging.
15. In addition, the landlord has said that, as part of its service to residents, its contract monitoring officers inspect within a 6 weekly period. If any issues are found, an action plan is created, and relevant timescales given for completion of works. The contractual target is 85% and no action plans have been required.
16. The landlord has provided a copy of the cleaning schedule for the building which says, amongst other things, that on a weekly basis the bin room floors would be scrubbed. On a monthly basis the walls and ceilings in chute rooms are washed, along with landings and bin stores. Once a year it would “jet out bin rooms and chutes”. It has also provided copies of a few inspection reports. The details of these are below:
    1. 26 April 2023 – inspection score of 80%. The bin chamber was deemed a pass.
    2. 19 December 2023 – inspection score of 73%. The bin chamber was deemed a fail.
    3. 2 February 2024 – inspection score of 81%. The bin chamber was deemed a fail.
    4. 1 March 2024 – inspection score of 82%. There was nothing recorded against the bin chamber.
    5. 10 May 2024 – inspection score of 85%. The bin chamber was deemed a fail.
    6. 5 June 2024 – inspection score of 81%. There was nothing recorded against the bin chamber.
17. Despite the inspection reports showing the information above, the landlord told us that no action plans were required because “the scores were as follows for the last 3 inspections. 10th May 24 – 85% 1st March 24 – 92% 2nd Feb 24 – 90%”. However, that did not correlate with the inspection reports provided. When asked why its information differed, it said, “Inspection reports are completed by the Housemark App. Once this has been generated. The amount of fails is then deducted from the amount of items that need to be checked. This is then turned into a percentage and logged onto our spreadsheet as the final figure. The spread sheet figure given is the final and correct score. For example… if the total score is 217 and then there was 15 fails inside block from the Housemark report, we would calculate it as 217 (total) – 15 (number of failed areas). The sum is then placed on the spreadsheet to formulate a percentage %”.
18. While an explanation has been provided by the landlord as to how information is reported, the inspection reports still highlighted areas for improvement needed in the bin area. The reports should have still been analysed and prompted it to take action to address areas where it was failing and make improvements. This included the bin area.
19. The inspection reports provided show that on only one occasion the bin store/chamber was deemed to have passed the inspection. Notably, none of the inspection reports provided after August 2023, when the landlord took action following the complaint, showed the bin store to have passed inspection. This should have prompted the landlord to take a proactive approach and investigate the cause of the problem and address it, particularly when it was already on notice that issues had been raised with that area in the past.
20. Having received 3 inspection reports from December 2023 to May 2024 showing the bin area to have failed inspection, there is no evidence of the landlord taking any further action at that time. During that period though, the resident did not complain about the bins specifically but did about a gate that needed fixing (which does not form part of this investigation). When the resident did report issues with the bin area, the landlord took steps to address them. Having reviewed at least 8 separate reports by the resident in 2023 and 2024, we can see the landlord usually took action either the same day, or the next working day.
21. It spoke with the refuse collection company and caretakers about ensuring the bins were put away and the area maintained correctly. When it was made aware by the resident that the gate had not been closed or that mice had been spotted, it followed this up and reported the issue to pest control. In addition, it attended the building itself to inspect the bin area and a new caretaker has since been put in place. The landlord has said that the bin rooms are being washed regularly and residents are now pleased with the current standard of cleaning.
22. It is accepted that the landlord did take action to address the issue with the bin area. However, this was as a result of the resident reporting issues, and not because it took action independently, having received feedback from the inspection reports. Therefore, a recommendation has been made for the landlord to review how it analyses the inspection reports going forward, in order to ensure it takes action to assess and address areas identified that need improvement, and not just rely upon a score given.
23. In addition, although the landlord has said inspections take place every 6 weeks as well as quarterly, it has sent in a copy of an inspection report from 4 September 2024, but not of the other 6 weekly inspections. It is clear inspections have been done, as they have been referred to in correspondence, but it is difficult to know whether the cleaning schedule has been complied with. The landlord should check it is recording each inspection and learning from its findings. That way, it will ensure it addresses any issues proactively, rather than reactively, when a complaint is made or a resident flags an issue.
24. Although the landlord has a cleaning schedule in place and carried out inspections, it cannot monitor the bin area all the time. It is reliant upon the caretaker and refuse company to follow processes and instructions. Overall, the landlord responded to the resident’s reports that bins were not being placed in the correct area and the area not being properly maintained, reasonably. Therefore, a finding of no maladministration is made. However, as explained, it would be wise for the landlord to review how it learns from inspections, to ensure any areas of failure are reviewed and actioned going forward.

The landlord’s complaint handling

25. An initial complaint was made by the resident on 30 April 2023 and addressed promptly at stage 1 on 11 May 2023. A further complaint was made on 15 June 2023 and acknowledged within 5 working days as it should have been according to the landlord’s Corporate Complaints Policy. Although the landlord did not issue its stage 1 response within 10 working days as it should have, it did manage the resident’s expectations by saying a response would be issued by 6 July 2023. The stage 1 response was then sent in accordance with the timescale the landlord set out.
26. The landlord accepted that the stage 1 response had been sent to the wrong team, but it addressed the issue raised and set out the steps it had taken to resolve matters. Therefore, the resident was not disadvantaged by that.
27. There was a delay in the landlord acknowledging that the resident had escalated the complaint to stage 2 but that did not affect its stage 2 response being sent within 20 working days as it should have been. The delay acknowledging the complaint was an oversight but, overall, the landlord addressed the complaint fully at both stages and in a timely way. Therefore, there was no maladministration.

Determination

28. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
    1. Reports that bins are not being placed in the correct area and the area is not being properly maintained.
    2. Associated formal complaint.

Recommendation

29. The landlord is recommended to review its process for recording each inspection and analysing and taking action following inspection reports, if it identifies any areas it has failed on.