Compliments, comments, and complaints

1. Purpose

To provide an overview of the complaints received in Housing, including numbers, nature, and response times.

To provide assurance to Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees of appropriate complaint handling and implementation of lessons learned.

Provide the opportunity to scrutinise complaint service improvement plans.

2. Annual Figures

2.1 Number of complaints

2.2. Exclusions

All housing complaints were accepted and responded to.

2.3. Complaint response performance

3. Nacro’s Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy

Our full policy is available here, on our website, alongside our Compensation Policy.

Policy summary:

If a compliment or comment is raised, Nacro will respond within five days to acknowledge the feedback and thank the submitter for getting in touch.

For complaints, Nacro have a two-stage process.

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, with the standard of Nacro’s service, actions, or lack of action could reasonably be expected of Nacro, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents or students.

This could include:

1. Failure to follow up or notify the Service User about appropriate action following initial contact.
2. Failure or lengthy delay in providing a service or to take an action which Nacro said they could provide or take.
3. Failure to comply with a policy.
4. The inappropriate behaviour of Nacro employees or contractor.

Stage one

Nacro will acknowledge the complaint within five working days. The manager for the service will investigate and provide a written response within 10 working days.

If a complainant is dissatisfied with Nacro’s response at stage one, they can request for their complaint to be handled at the next stage. Nacro will always speak to the complainant to understand what parts of the complaint response they are dissatisfied with, and what actions they are looking for to resolve the issue.

Stage two

An acknowledgement letter will be sent within five working days of receipt of the stage two complaint. The complaint will be referred for review to a more senior manager. This could be an area manager, the head of service or centre manager. They will investigate and a written response will be provided within 20 working days.

Promoting the policy: A new complaints policy leaflet has been created, see below. This is shared with service users in welcome packs and displayed in services.

When the Nacro website was upgraded, a new pro-forma was added to make it easier for complaints to be made and received by Nacro. The complaints mailbox is monitored daily to ensure swift responses to complaints. The QR code on the poster directs to the pro-forma on the website, to enable easy access.

4. Complaint topics and trends

The complaints from service users mainly related to the service they received. These centred around:

• Staff members available and responsiveness.
• Tenants dissatisfied in how a procedure has been applied or alleging it has been applied incorrectly.
• Property condition and repairs

Areas of housing complaints

There were three services with a higher-than-average number of complaints. The two services with the most complaints relate to staff members responsiveness. The management team are aware of these issues, both through complaints and other performance reporting, and have put in place management plans to respond to the concerns highlighted.

Anti-social behaviour

Most complaints coming via the Nacro website are categorised on our website as being received from a ‘Member of Public’ and tend to be reports of anti-social behaviour.

A report of anti-social behaviour is not a complaint. This is because they are not a complaint about a service Nacro provide or are in direct control of. However, we understand the distressing impact anti-social behaviour can have, for our tenants and neighbours, and we want to proactively resolve any issues reported to us.

We know that we have an important role in addressing anti-social behaviour and must work effectively with our partner agencies such as the Police and the Local Authority to resolve these issues.  We recognise that where reports of anti-social behaviour relate to tenancy matters, we have a larger role to play in resolving them and want to do our upmost to ensure that we are a good neighbour. Because of this, we often accept reports of anti-social behaviour as complaints and respond to them in this way.

Guaranteeing that we fulfil our responsibilities and find resolution for both complaints and antisocial behaviour is a priority for Nacro, and the section below outlines new resources we have committed to ensure we can respond appropriately to anti-social behaviour.

5. Service improvements as the result of complaints:

These are the measures that have been put in place throughout the year as themes and issues were highlighted through complaints.

Recording and record keeping:

• Timely responses – to support effective and timely complaint resolution, the Quality and Safeguarding team have begun monthly audits of complaint handling to address any issues that have arisen in that month.
• New, external training around complaints handling has been procured from the Housing Quality Network.
• The online complaints form has been updated to ensure all relevant information is captured.
• A housing complaints improvement plan in place to monitor performance against the complaint handling code.

Housing management:

• Occupancy sustainment training, which includes management of arrears, former tenant arrears and ending a tenancy is being rolled out to all teams.
• We have enhanced our capacity and skills to respond to anti-social behaviour, including training for teams on responding to and tackling anti-social behaviour.
• A new Anti-social behaviour policy and procedure is in place to support teams to respond.
• New anti-social behaviour expertise/personnel has been introduced into the Housing Management team to support operational teams to manage incidents as they arise.

Property Condition:

• We have increased the resources in the property maintenance team to support increased post-repair inspections.
• We have reviewed and improved the system to ensure property repairs that the head landlord (not Nacro) is responsible for, are recorded accurately and completed in a timely fashion.

6. Nacro’s plans for service improvements in 2024/25:

As a result of this annual review and our ongoing complaint improvement plan, we have committed to the following measures.

Ease of making a complaint:

• New, advertised complaint number with embedded QR code.
• Improved website pro-forma.
• Launch a new complaints leaflet.

Quality assurance:

• Nacro wide complaint improvement plan with responsibility shared between the housing and Chief Executives office.
• One complaint policy for all Nacro services (housing, justice & health, and education services)
• Complaint policy peer reviewed by the Housing Quality Network.
• The Quality and Safeguarding team to actively manage and support all live complaints being responded to locally.

7. Compensation

The Compensation Policy was new in February 2024 and has been applied four times to date. Three occasions were to tenants.

8. Staff training

New staff training has been procured from the Housing Quality Network, to upskill our teams in responding to complaints, with a focus on staff members resolving the issues raised and rebuilding the relationship of trust with the service user.

All staff briefings on the new complaints policy are taking place across 2024/25 Q2.

9. Regulatory updates

Complaints made about our accommodation services are governed by the Housing Ombudsman Service. Through the new RSH Consumer Standards, their complaint handling code is now on a statutory footing. We have demonstrated our compliance with the code in the self-assessment document that is here, on our website.

Our Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy has been updated to ensure it reflects the Housing Ombudsman’s expectations.

To meet the new requirements, we now have a Trustee responsible for complaints – Philippa Oldmeadow. The Head of Quality and Safeguarding and Head of Executive Office will be meeting with her at least quarterly between Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees to review our performance.

Our poor performance in responding to complaints in a timely fashion is our biggest risk of non-compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s expectations. We recognise improvement is needed in this area, while previous improvement attempts have not had the outcomes desired. The Quality and Safeguarding team are working with the CEO Office to jointly drive service improvements. We will be reporting to the Executive team on our progress.

No complaints have been referred to the Housing Ombudsman in the period.

10. 2024/25 Reporting 

From 1^st April 2024 the follow KPIs will be to be reported to Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees:

• (For context, not KPI) Stage 1: number of complaints:
• Percentage of stage one complaints acknowledged within 5 days.
• Percentage of stage one complaints responded to within 10 days.
• (For context, not KPI) Stage 2: number of complaints escalated to stage 2
• Percentage of stage two complaints responded to within 20 days.

This quarterly report will be expanded to include complaints from Justice and Health services and Education. This report will be brought to Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees (and the Education Committee).

A comment from our board

This report outlines a positive baseline for Nacro’s management of housing complaints; however, we know that there is work to do. We are committed to listening to, and positively resolving, the concerns shared with us by our tenants, neighbours and wider stakeholders and will continue to work closely with them to drive improvements and best practise with regards to our complaints management.

In year, we have rolled out a new complaints policy and procedure, implemented several improvement activities and undertaken a thorough self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code which has formed the basis of our complaints improvement plan.

We have additional development activity planned for the 24/25 financial year which we are confident will further improve our complaints handling and enhance the quality of our reporting.

This annual report provides a thematic overview of complaints received across Nacro Housing services during 2024/25. It sets out the volume and nature of complaints, response times, and the lessons learned.

It also reflects on how complaints have shaped improvements in practice, culture, and service delivery. This ensures transparency, supports scrutiny by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Board of Trustees, and demonstrates our compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.

Nacro have had an increased focus on complaints for the last 18 months, both in terms of encouraging receipt of them through clear central channels and upskilling our front-line teams to welcome and embrace complaints and feedback, and in strengthening mechanisms for tracking and management of complaint handling.

Whilst the former has been effective, and we have seen a significant rise in complaints; mechanisms we have embedded to strengthen our ability to manage them within the expected timescales have not proven to be effective due to the continued reliance on front line operational managers with multiple competing priorities.

Reflecting on the full year’s performance, there have been marginal improvements in housing performance, however there is clearly still work to do to ensure that complaint handling is better managed within expected timescales. On a positive note, complaints proportionate to the volume of service users remain low with less than 5% of residents reporting any complaints. Likewise, the number of complaints which progress to stage 2 is also low (9%) suggesting that the quality of responses at stage 1 is sufficient to address the complainant’s concerns.

It’s fair to say that 2024/25 has been a year of learning and challenge. Complaints have highlighted recurring issues around timeliness, property standards, and consistency of support. Importantly, they have also driven tangible improvements in processes, training, and service delivery. As we move into 2025/26, our focus is on embedding a culture of accountability, ensuring complaints are resolved quickly and fairly, and using learning to improve outcomes for all residents.

Nacro’s Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy  

Our full policy is available here, on our website, alongside our Compensation Policy. The complaints definition and two-stage process are aligned to the Ombudsman’s expectations. 

Annual Figures 

3.1. Number of stage 1 complaints  

3.2. Stage 1 complaints outcomes  

*This is not 100% of all complaints. These numbers reflect centrally recorded outcomes. In 2025/26 increased monitoring of outcomes centrally will improve completeness of reporting.  

3.3. Number of stage 2 complaints  

3.4. Stage 2 complaints outcomes  

3.5. Exclusions  

All housing complaints were accepted and responded to.  

3.6. Complaint response performance  

Complaint trends  

Accessibility and Timeliness 

Performance against complaint response standards was mixed. Of stage 1 complaints, 73% were acknowledged on time, but only 47% received a response within 10 days. At stage 2, 75% were acknowledged on time and 67% resolved within 20 days.  

The barriers to timeliness and accessibility are varied: 

• Availability of information: Managers frequently reported delays because relevant case records, tenancy agreements, or property history were not readily accessible. This was particularly evident in CAS-2, where firewalls between systems limited oversight and caused bottlenecks. 

• Over-reliance on operational managers: Many investigations were carried out by frontline managers who were simultaneously responsible for day-to-day service delivery. Their competing priorities often meant complaints were not given sufficient attention, leading to late responses. 

• Limited escalation pathways: Some managers attempted to resolve complex complaints alone, even when the issues were beyond their authority or expertise. This created unnecessary delays and, in some cases, partial or inadequate responses. 

• Complexity of shared living arrangements: Complaints involving resident-to-resident disputes in shared housing often took longer to resolve as staff tried to establish facts. These were sometimes misclassified as complaints about the service rather than anti-social behaviour cases, which contributed to poor timeliness performance. 

• Resource shortages: Periods of high staff turnover or absence, particularly in services coming to an end, reduced capacity to respond to complaints within the required timeframes. 

The poorest performance was recorded in CAS-2, where 89% of complaints were not resolved within the 10-day stage 1 timescale. This has been identified as a critical compliance risk and is a focus of the improvement plan for 2025/26. The newly appointed Governance and Complaints Officer has already started to address this issue by tracking deadlines, supporting managers, and ensuring acknowledgements are sent promptly. 

Quality and Consistency of Services 

Several complaints reflected dissatisfaction with the consistency of support provided. This was particularly evident in the Midlands, where services faced instability due to contract endings and high staff turnover. Reliance on temporary staff affected continuity and contributed to complaints in Q1 and Q2. 

Through joint work between the Area Manager, Head of Supported Housing, and the Quality and Safeguarding team, additional capacity was put in place to stabilise services. This included property checks, new staff induction, training, and targeted support. A new manager in Nottingham YP helped reduce complaints over time. 

Neighbourhood and Anti-Social Behaviour 

Complaints often involved conflicts between residents in shared accommodation. These were sometimes incorrectly managed as service complaints rather than ASB cases, inflating complaint numbers and affecting performance. To address this, we have recruited an Anti-Social Behaviour and Legal Advisor, who is designing new ASB training modules, providing guidance and monthly drop-ins for staff and supporting managers to correctly channel ASB cases. 

Property Standards and Repairs 

Complaints consistently referenced property condition and repairs, particularly damp, mould, and delays in maintenance. In total, 56% of all complaints related to property condition and service delivery. In response, we have developed a new Property Standards Toolkit with updated training, health and safety expectations, and improved digital repair reporting. This will be rolled out in Q3. 

Transitions and Move-On Support 

Difficulties with move-on processes were a recurring theme, especially around storage and disposal of belongings. To address this the Move-On Policy is being rewritten with input from service users, the new Cx housing system is embedding move-on more effectively in support planning and staff are receiving improved training on handling belongings. 

Digital Access and Connectivity 

Young people in supported housing raised issues about unreliable Wi-Fi, particularly in Essex and Lincolnshire NEST services. These concerns were escalated to ICT, leading to a review of infrastructure and costing of upgrades to improve coverage. 

Service Improvements in 2024/25 

The complaints raised during 2024/25 were not only a measure of dissatisfaction but also a valuable source of insight that has shaped tangible improvements across our services. Our approach has been to translate resident concerns into organisational learning and action, as below: 

Raising Property Standards 

Training was rolled out to ensure staff could accurately diagnose repairs, identify health and safety risks, and meet clear expectations on housing conditions. The digital reporting of repairs was upgraded to speed up communication between front-line staff and maintenance teams. This improved transparency and accountability, reducing delays in addressing issues such as damp and mould. 

Strengthening ASB Management 

Recognising that many complaints stemmed from interpersonal issues in shared living settings, we recruited a dedicated ASB Advisor. They began developing a structured framework for managing ASB, including training for staff on both low- and high-level ASB. New guidance materials, monthly drop-in sessions, and a library of best practice case examples were introduced to build staff confidence and ensure ASB is tackled consistently and fairly. 

Improving Move-On and Belongings Procedures 

Complaints highlighted the emotional and practical impact of unclear processes for move-on and handling personal belongings. In response, we started rewriting the Move-On Policy, ensuring service user input through consultations. Staff have been issued with new procedures for managing belongings, balancing practical storage limitations with respect and sensitivity towards tenants’ possessions. The new Cx housing system is supporting earlier planning for move-on within support plans, ensuring transitions are smoother and better communicated. 

Enhancing Digital Connectivity 

Complaints from young people about Wi-Fi were taken seriously, given the role of digital access in education, employment, and wellbeing. ICT colleagues reviewed existing infrastructure, identified weaknesses, and commissioned costings for upgrades. These planned improvements will help ensure equitable access to digital resources across our supported housing services. 

Improving Complaint Handling  

In CAS-2, where volumes were high, we worked to ensure all complaints were consistently logged, acknowledging that under-recording had previously masked issues. Although timeliness remains a challenge, the introduction of a Governance and Complaints Officer has laid the foundation for more consistent and accountable complaint management. They now track complaints, support managers to respond, and review quality, embedding organisational learning. 

Training has focused on improving complaint handling confidence and capability. Highlights include delivery of Housing Quality Network training on resolution and trust-building, manager training on the policy, with emphasis on CAS-2. 

Analysis of complaints responded to outside of the Housing Ombudsman’s expectations 

This section will focus on the circumstances around the complaint outcomes delivered outside of the required timeframes (10 working days for stage 1 and 20 working days for stage 2).  

• 71 complaints were responded to outside of the KPI. Of these, in a small number of cases, the investigating manager informed the complainant there would be a delayed response of a further 10 days, as Nacro’s policy allows.  

• Analysis of the remaining complaints finds that managers’ report not having the evidence or records they require to help them investigate the complaints and provide a timely outcome. This feedback also highlights that some managers do not know how to escalate issues related to complaints and instead continue to try and solve them alone, without the tools to do so. This was particularly the case in three complaints that were escalated to stage 2, following stage 1 outcomes delivered outside of the expected timeframes.  

• This challenge also manifests when service users living in shared environments complain about each other’s behaviour, and staff try to ascertain hard to gauge facts and monitor the situation, before responding to the complaint. However, such cases should be understood and managed as anti-social behaviour, as the issue is not arising from Nacro action or inaction, it is arising from neighbours’ behaviour towards each other. Additionally, staff members are on a learning journey to move from feeling they must resolve every element of a complaint before responding to being confident to respond to complaints with an action plan and a review period.  

• Managing ongoing anti-social behaviour as a complaint is artificially increasing the number of complaints reported and leading to poor complaint handling performance, as it is not the correct process or framework to respond to these incidents.  

• The poorest performance in complaint handling is in CAS-2; from 35 stage 1 complaints, 89% were not responded to within 10 working days. Tracking and monitoring CAS-2 complaints centrally is inhibited by the firewall between CAS-2 systems and other functions within Nacro. This lack of oversight has led to difficulty monitoring complaint response times and the progress of complaints through the process. Introduction of the central complaints and governance role we expect will improve this as they have access to both environments. 

• There are a small number of complaints that have been responded to outside of the 10 working days with no obvious reason as to the delay. This speaks to resources challenges, such as being short staffed, but also managers not prioritising complaint responses over other operational responsibilities. Operational managers are often the complaint investigator, due to their knowledge of the subjects, teams and properties complained about. We recognise that these roles can have competing demands on their time and can at times also have a bias perspective when investigating complaints within their line.  

• To ensure complaints are prioritised, in 2025/26, from Q2 we have an additional resource in the form of the Governance and Complaints Officer to acknowledge all complaints, and to initially support CAS-2 managers to respond to complaints within the expected timeframes.  During Q2, through directly working with complaint handling managers, the Governance and Complaints Officer will be identifying challenges and barriers to timely complaint responses. They will also review the quality of complaint responses to drive learning and improvement amongst managers with regards to complaint handling. 

Further planned service improvements in 2025/26:  

Building on lessons learned, our 2025/26 plan focuses on embedding change, strengthening accountability, and ensuring consistent outcomes for residents. Planned improvements include: 

Strengthening Complaint Handling 

• Launching a central ticketing and tracking system to monitor all complaints in real time, ensuring deadlines are not missed and escalation is transparent. 

• Introducing formal templates for investigation reports, providing consistency and clarity for complainants. 

• Embedding vulnerability assessments into the complaint process so that the personal circumstances of complainants are properly recorded and factored into resolutions. 

• Assigning clear accountability for responses at each stage, supported by monitoring from the Governance and Complaints Officer. 

Embedding Learning and Accountability 

• Holding regular management feedback sessions to reflect on complaint handling challenges and solutions. 

• Compiling and disseminating a ‘best practice’ library of responses that demonstrate empathy, clarity, and accountability. 

• Ensuring lessons learned are translated into service-level action plans, not just case-by-case fixes. 

Driving Thematic Reviews 

• Proactively reviewing Housing Ombudsman Spotlight Reports and benchmarking Nacro’s complaints themes against national trends. 

• Linking complaints learning to audit findings (e.g., BDO reviews), service improvement plans and incidents to create a joined-up picture of risk and improvement. 

• Conducting annual deep-dive reviews into recurring complaint themes, such as repairs or move-on processes, to develop system-wide solutions. 

Improving Data Consistency and Transparency 

• Standardising complaint categories across all housing services and CAS-2 to ensure reliable analysis. 

• Differentiating between complaints, ASB reports, and service requests to reduce misclassification and improve response accuracy. 

• Publishing clearer reporting for residents and trustees on complaint outcomes and learning. 

Enhancing Service User Engagement 

• Refreshing and redistributing posters and leaflets in all properties to ensure awareness of the complaints process. 

• Using focus groups and peer feedback to test the accessibility and fairness of the process from a resident’s perspective. 

• Introducing regular ‘You Said, We Did’ communications, both locally and centrally, to demonstrate impact beyond the individual complainant. 

Strengthening Induction and Training 

• Embedding complaints awareness into all new staff inductions, ensuring that every colleague understands policy, timelines, and accountability. 

• Rolling out a refresher training programme for existing staff, with modules tailored to common themes such as ASB, property standards, and communication. 

These improvements aim to shift complaint handling from a reactive process to a proactive, embedded culture of listening, learning, and continuous improvement. 

Compensation 

The Compensation Policy (launched February 2024) was applied four times, totalling £3,178 across the year.  

Regulatory Compliance 

Nacro’s complaints process is aligned with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, which now has statutory standing under the RSH Consumer Standards. Our updated Compliments, Comments and Complaints Policy reflects these expectations. 

We meet quarterly with the Trustee responsible for complaints. We currently have five open cases with the Ombudsman, with no determinations yet received. These are tracked and reported quarterly, with outcomes to be included in the 2025/26 annual report. 

Our greatest compliance risk remains timeliness of complaint responses. While improvements were made in 2024/25, performance was below expectation. The Governance and Complaints Officer role has been created to directly address this. 

A comment from our board

This report outlines some clear themes arising from Nacro complaints and the data informs us that there is work for us to do to improve timescales for responses and the experiences of our tenants. Positively, less than 5% of our tenants are finding reason to complain to us and more than 90% of tenants are satisfied with our initial response and therefore to not feel the need to escalate their complaint further. We are committed to listening to, and positively resolving, the concerns shared with us by our tenants, neighbours and wider stakeholders and will continue to work closely with them to drive improvements and best practise with regards to our complaints management.

We’ll acknowledge your complaint within five working days. The service lead for the service will investigate and provide a written response within 10 working days.

If you are dissatisfied with our response at stage one you can request for your complaint to be handled at the next stages. We will always speak to you to understand what parts of the complaint response you are dissatisfied with, and what actions you are looking for to resolve the issue.

An acknowledgement letter will be sent within five working days of receipt of the stage two complaint. Your complaint will be referred for review to a more senior manager. This could be an area manager, the head of service or centre manager. They will investigate and a written response will be provided within 20 working days.

We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can get in touch with them free of charge, if you feel that Nacro have not dealt with your complaint fairly.

Taking a complaint to the FOS will not affect your legal rights.

Contact details

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

0300 1239123
0800 0234567

complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

You can find more information about the FOS on its website

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

We deal with complaints following The Housing Ombudsman Services Complaint Handling Code. This means we follow their best practice guidance.

You will need to ensure that you have exhausted our complaints process before the Housing Ombudsman will fully investigate your complaint, however you can seek general advice and assistance at any point of your complaint.

You can find more information about the Housing Ombudsman Service and what it can help with on its website: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Contact Details

Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

Telephone: 0300 111 3000 (lines are open Monday to Friday from 9:15am to 5:15pm except public holidays)

Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code promotes the progressive use of complaints, providing a framework to support effective handling and prevention alongside learning and development. The Code enables landlords to resolve complaints raised by their service users and residents quickly and to use the learning from complaints to drive service improvements.

Nacro has completed an assessment against the Complaints Handling Code and confirms that it meets all mandatory requirements as set out by the Housing Ombudsman. The details of the assessment can be found here.

If your complaint is about one of our education centre you can contact the Education and Skills Funding Agency directly.

Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)
complaints.ESFA@education.gov.uk

Complaints team
Education and Skills Funding Agency
Cheylesmore House
Quinton Road
Coventry
CV1 2WT

Young people can contact The Children’s Commissioner’s Officer. Her job is to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people. The Children’s Commissioner can be contacted as follows:

Call: 0800 528 0731
Email: advice.team@childrenscommissioner.gsi.gov.uk

Children & Young People can also contact their Independent Reviewing Officer and Ofsted
Officer