HouseMark has welcomed the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to ‘Ombudsman Says’ - just one of its comprehensive services for improving performance in complaints handling.
Scottish Ombudsman Jim Martin, says: “We are delighted to join this useful initiative and welcome the benefits it will bring landlords and their tenants. This service offers a valuable learning tool for registered social landlords in Scotland and elsewhere.”
Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities at the Scottish Government, also welcomes the sharing of knowledge and experience in ‘Ombudsman Says’ as well as recognising the importance for organisations to use accurate cost/benefit analysis.
“I’m encouraged to see that a number of our Scottish councils and RSLs are participating in HouseMark’s cost benchmarking pilot which will help them better understand their cost drivers,” he says. “Today more than ever, it is vital that every penny of a landlord’s income is spent wisely.
‘Ombudsman Says’ was originally set up by HouseMark, the sector’s leading performance improvement organisation and largest cross-sector housing benchmarking club in the UK, and the Housing Ombudsman Service in April 2009 to give public access to case digests of the most important Ombudsman decisions. The service has since expanded to include the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and the Local Government Ombudsman. With the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman now on board, visitors to the site can enjoy fast and easy access to a wider range of case digests from across the UK.
HouseMark’s deputy chief executive Sam McGrady says “Now those people interested in how issues are resolved will be able to access case digests from across England, Wales and Scotland from one public website. As regulation changes the role of the Ombudsman may change with it and we will continue to support their work both on and offline.”
‘Ombudsman Says’ can be found at www.ombudsmansays.info. HouseMark has also recently launched its Complaints Accreditation Service in partnership with the Housing Ombudsman Service which enables all housing providers to demonstrate to their tenants, partners and the regulator how they are responding to customer complaints, comments and compliments. HouseMark also offers complaints benchmarking and extra support to landlords through workshops and bespoke solutions.
