Social Rented Housing: Correspondence

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 21 May 2018.

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Photo of Helen Jones Helen Jones Chair, Petitions Committee, Chair, Petitions Committee

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance to providers of social housing on how they should deal with and respond to enquiries from hon. Members.

Photo of Heather Wheeler Heather Wheeler Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

As public authorities, local authority providers of social housing are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and we would expect them to respond promptly to all enquiries from Hon. Members.

Housing associations are private sector bodies. They are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It would be inappropriate to single this sector out for instructions on how to respond to enquiries from Hon. Members. However as responsible companies with a social purpose we would expect them to deal promptly to such enquiries.

The Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard within the regulatory framework, requires registered providers to offer a range of ways for tenants to express a complaint and set out clear service standards for responding to complaints, and details of what to do if they are unhappy with the outcome of a complaint. This includes a requirement to deal appropriately with complaints made by advocates - such as Hon. Members acting on behalf of their constituents. Once a tenant has exhausted a registered provider's complaint procedure, the Localism Act 2011 provides for them to escalate the complaint to the housing ombudsman by a designated person. The definition of a designated person includes Hon. Members

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