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2026 Governing Body Response and statement from the Member Responsible for Complaints

As Plymouth Community Homes’ Member Responsible for Complaints and Chair of the Customer Focus Committee, I have reviewed the Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report for 2025/26 and the organisation’s self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. My assurance is based on the Committee’s scrutiny of complaint performance, themes, Housing Ombudsman outcomes, Code compliance and delivery of improvement actions. The report provides a transparent account of performance and learning, while identifying where further evidence of sustained improvement is required.

Throughout the year, the Customer Focus Committee received regular reports on complaint volumes, outcomes, response times, complaint satisfaction, complaint themes, Housing Ombudsman determinations and compliance with the Complaint Handling Code. This enables the Committee to provide scrutiny and challenge, understand resident experience and check that complaints are used to drive service improvement.

The Committee paid particular attention to repairs, outstanding work, appointments and communication because these issues have the greatest impact on residents and feature most prominently within complaint feedback. We also reviewed learning from Housing Ombudsman investigations and checked that orders, recommendations and wider sector learning had been translated into practical improvements.

The Committee recognises positive achievements during 2025/26. Complaint response times remained strong overall, complaint satisfaction improved over the longer term, and PCH strengthened complaint learning, governance and oversight. Independent assurance also confirmed that appropriate controls were in place to record, monitor and report on complaints and associated learning.
At the same time, further improvement is required. Complaint volumes increased and Stage 2 complaints rose significantly. Many escalations were linked to unresolved service issues, outstanding actions and communication concerns. The Committee expects continued focus on prompt delivery of remedies, clear updates to residents and evidence that service changes produce sustained improvements in resident experience.

The Customer Focus Committee receives updates on improvement activity arising from complaints and monitors progress against agreed actions. This includes complaint learning themes, Ombudsman outcomes, service reviews, audits and improvement programmes. Where progress is not being made at the expected pace, the Committee provides challenge and seeks further assurance on delivery, who is responsible and when work will be completed.
Priorities for 2026/27

• Improve completion of actions agreed through complaints.
• Reduce avoidable escalation to Stage 2.
• Improve reliability of the repairs journey.
• Strengthen communication and expectation management.
• Increase resident confidence that complaints result in meaningful change.
• Demonstrate more clearly the impact of service improvements on resident outcomes.

The Committee has also considered the requirements identified in the self-assessment as subject to policy approval or further embedding. Provision 9.8 remains partially compliant while PCH completes and evidences a consistent complaint-handling objective for all relevant employees and third parties. The Committee will monitor this action, together with the wider implementation plan, to completion by 31 December 2026.

As Member Responsible for Complaints, I am satisfied that the Customer Focus Committee and Board regularly review complaint performance, learning, Code compliance and improvement actions. Arrangements are in place to identify learning, monitor compliance and track agreed actions. The Committee will continue to seek evidence that the actions identified through the self-assessment and this report have been completed and are making a measurable difference for residents. More work is still needed to complete agreed actions promptly, reduce avoidable Stage 2 reviews and show lasting improvements for residents. The Committee will continue to question progress and check that agreed changes are making a difference.

The Board welcomes the transparency provided through this report, endorses the improvement priorities for 2026/27 and will continue to monitor progress through regular performance, assurance and service improvement reporting. We remain committed to valuing complaints as a source of resident insight and using learning to drive continuous improvement across Plymouth Community Homes.

On behalf of the Plymouth Community Homes Board and Member Responsible for Complaints – Maja Jorgensen, Chair of Customer Focus Committee on 25 September 2026.

2025 Governing Body Response

Maja Jorgensen, Board Member and Chair of the Customer Focus Committee at Plymouth Community Homes, said:

“At Plymouth Community Homes, we value every piece of feedback, whether praise or constructive criticism, as an opportunity to learn and improve. By actively listening to our residents and learning from their experiences, we’re committed to transforming insights into meaningful improvements that make a real difference across our organisation.

“The annual complaints performance and service improvement report, along with our self-assessment, was presented to and approved by the Customer Focus Committee on 25 July 2025. The reports have been thoroughly reviewed and challenged by the Customer Focus Committee and we’re confident that it accurately reflects our approach to complaint handling and demonstrates our full alignment with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.

“We recognise that we are on a journey with complaint handling and are always looking to evolve this further.  Looking ahead to 2025–26, we’re excited about the upcoming changes that will help us to deliver even better services for our residents.”

2024-2025 highlights:

• Regular, in-depth reviews of complaint trends and how they’re handled, with a strong focus on using insights to enhance services.
• Ongoing collaboration between the member responsible for complaints and officers to foster a constructive and responsive complaints culture.
• Continued delivery of quarterly tenant satisfaction reports, alongside expanded customer insight reporting to guide strategic improvements.
• We have strengthened the involvement of our resident co-optees to the Customer Focus Committee by providing tailored support, training and opportunities for development. Lived experience and insights will continue to shape the committee’s priorities, ensuring decisions reflect the needs and perspectives of our communities.

2024 Governing Body Response

Maja Jorgensen, Board Member and Chair of the Customer Focus Committee at Plymouth Community Homes, said:

“Plymouth Community Homes is committed to living by our values: Care, Respect, Listen, Do the right thing, and nowhere more so than when something isn’t right for our residents. We welcome feedback from residents, whether complaints or compliments, and are committed to being a learning organisation. We therefore have procedures in place to ensure that learning from what could have been better informs continuous improvement across the organisation.

This year the Board has:

• Received and scrutinised quarterly updates on the volume, nature and handling of complaints, and the actions taken to improve services basing on insights
• Appointed a Member Responsible for Complaints, who meets regularly with officers to review complaints and support a positive complaints handling culture
• Implemented an updated complaints handling policy informed by Ombudsman expectations and customer input
• Continued to receive quarterly tenant satisfaction measures reports and developed extended customer insights reporting to inform organisational improvements
• Recruited a further three Customer Focus Committee resident co-optees, and now have the full complement of five co-optees on this committee
• “The Board of Plymouth Community Homes confirms that the annual complaint performance and service improvement report and self-assessment has been reviewed, scrutinised and robustly challenged through both Board and Customer Focus Committee. The Board is satisfied that the report reflects our organisation’s approach and complaints handling delivery and demonstrates our compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code.”