Improving timeliness and reducing the backlog of cases is a clear priority, and one that matters for both residents and landlords. The Business Plan sets out a continued focus on increasing capacity and progressing cases more quickly through the system.
Our response highlights that rising demand is being driven by a combination of factors, including housing condition, repairs pressures, and increasing complexity in service delivery. While improving throughput is important, these underlying pressures will continue to shape demand and escalation across the system.
We raise a number of areas where further clarity would be helpful, including how the Ombudsman will ensure consistency and quality as case volumes increase, how approaches such as focused investigations will operate in practice, and how performance will be measured and reported.
We also set out the importance of demonstrating value for money in the context of the proposed fee increase, particularly given the wider financial pressures facing the sector and the impact on investment in residents’ homes and services.
We will continue to engage with the Ombudsman as this approach is implemented, particularly on how it delivers in practice and the impact on residents.