At Hackney Homes we hope the services you receive from us are of the highest quality that you expect. However, we know that there may be times when you feel unhappy with the service you receive or you may want to make a suggestion about how we can improve it. We also hope that there may be times when you would like to tell us when you are happy with a service. Your complaints, suggestions and compliments are important to us. They help us improve our services, so don’t be afraid to let us know your concerns.

The Compliments and Complaints Booklet explains how to praise someone for a job well done and the best way to let us know about a problem.

There are many ways you get in touch with us to make a complaint or to tell us what we have done well.

1. You can phone us on 020 8356 5022 (if you are unable to complete the form online)

2. You can fax us on 020 8356 5091

3. You can send us an email to housing.complaints@hackneyhomes.org.uk

4. You can use our online form

5. You can speak to one of our team in your local Neighbourhood Office

6. If you are hard of hearing, you can phone our minicom number on 020 8356 2813 or 18001 02083 565022 to use the Typetalk service.

6. You can send us a letter in the post

Complaints Team
Hackney Homes,
136-142 Lower Clapton Road
London, E5 0QD

If you want to make a complaint, we have a simple three-stage procedure.

Your complaint will be investigated by the service area best placed to resolve the matter. We will write to you within 3 working days to let you know we have received your complaint. We will tell you who is dealing with your complaint and the date by which you should expect a response. We aim to give you a full response within 15 working days. If there are any reasons why this will not be possible we will contact you and give you a new date for our response

If you are not happy with the outcome at Stage 1, you can take the matter further. At Stage 2 your complaint will be investigated by a Principal Complaints Officer from Hackney Homes Housing Complaints Team. We will include details of how to do this in your Stage 1 response. We will write to you within 3 working days to let you know we have received your complaint. We will tell you who is dealing with your complaint and the date by which you should expect a response. We aim to give you a full response within 15 working days. If there are any reasons why this will not be possible we will contact you and give you a new date for our response.

If you are still not happy after the Stage 2 investigation you can ask for your complaint to be considered by the Standards and Complaints Team who are part of the Customer & Corporate Service in Hackney Council, who will carry out an independent review. We will include details of how to do this in your Stage 2 response. They will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days. They will tell you who is dealing with your complaint and the date by which you should expect a response. They aim to give you a full response within 20 working days. There are some service areas which may be outside the responsibility of our Complaints Policy. These might include parking ticket disputes, planning application appeals, Housing Benefits appeals and Legal Disrepair issues. Additionally some service areas may run their own arbitration or mediation services which may have a bearing on part of the Complaints Procedure.

The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent national service that investigates complaints against councils. You can complain to the Ombudsman at any time but he will usually refer a complaint back to us if it has not been through our complaints procedure. You can contact your Local Councillor or the Local Government Ombudsman at:

Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Phone: 0845 602 1983
Fax: 024 7682 0001
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk
www.lgo.org.uk

The Local Government Ombudsman has a leaflet called Complaint about the Council? How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. You can get a copy by telephoning or writing to the address above, or you can download it from the Ombudsman’s website. If you have an enquiry about the Local Government Ombudsman’s service you can telephone their Adviceline on 0845 602 1983.

Hackney Homes endevours to deal with all complaints as quickly as possible in a transparent manner. We will acknowledge reciept of any complaint within three working days in writing. Hackney Homes is committed to treating everyone equally. This means we will not treat anyone differently regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or faith.