Localism Bill amended to allow tenants to complain directly to ombudsman

The Government amendment to clause 179 of the Localism Bill was put forward by Communities and Local Government department minister Baroness Hanham and has been agreed by the House of Lords.

The amendment provides that, in certain circumstances, a tenant may take a complaint directly to the housing ombudsman. The Bill previously required a tenant to take the complaint to a local representative, who would have then decided whether or not to take the complaint forward.

For this clause to apply, the housing ombudsman must be satisfied that the tenant has first followed the social landlord's complaints procedure and that eight weeks have expired following this process.

"The eight-week exception would assist tenants in cases where, for example, the local representative simply did not respond to their complaint. We propose that the time period for this condition would begin at the end of the landlord’s complaints procedure, not when the tenant first approached a local representative," Baroness Hanham said.

A tenant may also proceed directly to the ombudsman if the "designated person" to deal with complaints has refused to refer the complaint or has agreed that the complaint can be made without a referral.

Allowing tenants direct access to the ombudsman where the MP, tenant panel or councillor had declined to refer the complaint would alleviate concerns about conflict of interest, Hanham said.

The amendment was made following pressure from the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation.

"It is generally accepted that one of the principal conditions for being an ombudsman is that citizen consumers should be entitled to access directly his or her services...In that connection, the democratic filter does cause me some concern," said Mike Biles, housing ombudsman, speaking on the clause prior to its amendment.

Both Houses are now considering the amendments made to the Bill, before it is presented for royal assent.