The Conservative Group on Cornwall Council has promised to hold a review into the council's housing provider Cornwall Housing’s standards of service, following the latest release of its customer service statistics, should the Conservatives take control of Cornwall Council at next year’s local elections.
Data released as part of Cornwall Housing’s complaints satisfaction survey feedback shows that complaints made against the company have doubled for at least the third year in a row.
Of those who responded to the survey, over half of the respondents have said that they are dissatisfied with the complaint they made to Cornwall Housing. From the additional comments, some were unhappy with the outcome of the complaint, and for some, the way it was handled. A clear theme in the additional comments is that some residents didn’t get a final response detailing the outcome of their complaint.
Of the respondents, only 32% thought staff did their best to help, only 38% felt their complaint was dealt with fairly, 36% felt their complaint was taken seriously, 34% received a quick response and 35% thought they were kept informed of what was happening during their complaint.
Commenting, Conservative Group Leader Linda Taylor said:
“These figures speak for themselves. With complaints against Cornwall Housing doubling or projected to double every year for the past three years, it clear that there are some pretty major issues with the customer service standards offered by the company.”
“Sadly this experience is shared by many councillors who I have spoken with who have encountered difficulties themselves when making representations to Cornwall Housing on behalf of local residents.”
“The current Liberal Democrat and Independent administration that runs County Hall may be happy to let residents down by allowing this performance over the years they have been in power, but the Conservative Group if elected in May will hold Cornwall Housing to account.”
“Every tenant has the right to be listened to and this LibDem/Independent led Council should be leading the way in ensuring the people who use its housing company are treated fairly. How can they criticise other landlords when they appear to be allowing the council’s own housing company to fail our own tenants?”
“This simply is not good enough, and if the people of Cornwall elect a Conservative administration in the May 2021 elections, we will be holding an urgent review into Cornwall Housing’s standards of service.”
