Joint working operating procedure with the LGSCO

Common joint working topics

Some examples of topics that may suggest the need for joint working are:

• Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) for example ASB case management and the ASB case review
• crossover between rent arrears and housing benefit
• adaptations and Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) applications
• supported housing
• temporary accommodation and the housing management function of the landlord

Assessing a case for joint working

To consider a case joint working, it must meet all the following criteria:

1. It would be difficult and impractical to carry out separate investigations because the landlord and council issues are so closely linked we can only work out who was responsible for any fault and/or injustice by investigating both functions at the same time.
2. The landlord and council issues are both fundamentally significant to the overall complaint, rather than one being relatively minor compared to the other;
3. Issues have exhausted both the landlord and council complaint processes.
4. There is a practical timeframe where both the LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman are at a similar place with the complaint. If one organisation is significantly far ahead in dealing with the complaint and it will take the other organisation some time to reach the same stage, we may carry out separate investigations but share the outcome of investigations.

If the complaint has multiple parts, some may be for LGSCO only or Housing Ombudsman only and others may be joint.

Where a possible joint working case is identified, LGSCO/Housing Ombudsman staff must refer on to the relevant leads – the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager.

Handling a joint working case referral

On receiving details of the referral, the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager will liaise together to decide (within 5 working days) whether joint working is appropriate. To decide, they will consider all the following factors:

• can the case be jointly investigated – this will be assessed against whether the case meets the criteria (above) for joint working
• should the case be jointly investigated – if the complaint spans across both jurisdictions but the issues can clearly be separated and investigated independently, we may carry out separate investigations
• any vulnerabilities and best interests of the complainant

To ensure both organisations start their investigation at the same time, the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager may decide to allocate a joint case out of turn. It is recognised that joint working is a separate process so may require some practices to be different to each organisations usual approach.

The LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager will oversee the joint working process and status of cases during regular liaison meetings.

Joint working consent

The Localism Act 2011 allows for consultation and collaborative working between the LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman. This provides the power for both organisations to share information to establish what issues have been the subject of a previous complaint, what issues are new, which body has jurisdiction and whether it is possible to conduct a joint investigation. However, to carry out a joint investigation, we must have consent from the complainant to progress further.

If a case referral is considered suitable for joint working, the organisation who initially received the case will contact the complainant to seek consent for the complaint to be jointly investigated. If both organisations receive the complaint at the same time, they should agree from the outset, which officer and organisation will take the lead and seek consent. If consent is not given, we cannot progress with a joint working investigation.

Unless reasonable adjustments dictate otherwise, consent should be in writing, although a note of oral consent is acceptable in the first instance, to be followed up with written consent. If we have agreed a reasonable adjustment for verbal communication, then we will save a copy of the call recording to have a reference on file in the absence of written consent.

After receiving consent, the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager will liaise about case progression and arrangements for allocating an LGSCO investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator who specialise in joint working.

Housing Ombudsman and LGSCO Joint Data Controller Agreement (PDF)

Prematurity

When assessing a case for prematurity, LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman have agreed that it is generally not reasonable to expect a complainant to have exhausted 2 separate complaints procedures where the initial local response should have covered all elements of the complaint. However, there may be exceptions to this in cases where, for example, the complainant has a statutory right to a specific procedure and has opted to exercise that right. If it is better to allow the local procedure to go ahead, but it would also be preferable for the investigation to cover both jurisdictions of the LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman at the same time, we have the option to close one side of the case to wait for the process on the other side to be completed.

We should be clear with the organisations that we expect them to deal with the complaint promptly and to advise the complainant of their right to come back to the LGSCO/Housing Ombudsman once local complaint processes have concluded.

Joint working investigations

The LGSCO Investigator and the Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator should meet within 10 working days of case allocation to:

• agree a joint complaint statement and summary
• identify any points to be investigated separately by the LGSCO or the Housing Ombudsman
• agree on the issues that the LGSCO Investigator and the Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator will each consider
• agree who will be the lead officer and the main point of contact for correspondence on joint issues with the complainant and council/landlord
• agree on information needed from the council/landlord
• agree consistent approach to any request for reasonable adjustments

If the complainant, council or landlord raise concerns about the proposal to investigate, these will be dealt with and responded to by the LGSCO Investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator. This may mean the initial scope of the complaint could change once the investigator/adjudicator has considered any comments from all parties.

Joint working findings

Findings should be structured in accordance with the relevant joint working template and we aim:

• within 20 working days of receiving response to joint enquiries, the LGSCO Investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator should each consider the response and prepare their own initial draft view
• within 20 working days of preparing their individual draft views, the LGSCO Investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator meet, develop a joint draft decision, decide whether any information relied on for decision making should be shared with the complainant and send the agreed joint draft decision under one joint cover letter to the complainant, council and landlord
• to allow all parties to the complaint, 10 working days to comment on the joint draft decision
• within 10 working days of receiving joint draft decision comments, the LGSCO Investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator meet to consider the comments and agree any changes where appropriate
• within 10 working days of considering the draft decision comments, send the joint final decision under one joint cover letter to the complainant, council and landlord

Publication

The normal practice for both organisations is to publish its decisions but we can decide not to publish decisions in the following circumstances:

• when the decision is that the complaint is premature
• when a review of the decision is underway
• when we consider that it is not in the interests of the complainant or others affected to publish the decision, for example, where:
  1. the issues are sensitive, unusual or controversial and publication runs a risk that the complainant or others may be identifiable
  2. we agree to a request from the complainant or others that we should not publish
• when the complaint decision is about an employment or personnel matter
• when we decide there are other specific grounds that we consider mean we should not publish the decision

Remedy compliance

We will separate the remedy actions for each organisation. The LGSCO may make recommendations whereas the Housing Ombudsman may make both orders and recommendations. Each organisation will follow its own remedy compliance process, monitor implementation and confirm to the council and landlord when they are satisfied the actions are complete.

In cases where any joint recommendations are made, we will reconsider this approach on a case-by-case basis. For example, we may issue a joint compliance letter. If there are issues with non-compliance on joint recommendations, these should be referred to the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager.

Handling reviews

All parties have the right to request a review. For LGSCO and Housing Ombudsman to consider a review request jointly, it must meet the following criteria:

1. The request for a review is received within one month of when the findings were issued.
2. There is new evidence or clear reasons provided on why the joint working decision is wrong.
3. The request should include review points covering both jurisdictions.

The LGSCO Investigator and Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator will meet (within 5 working days of receiving request) to consider the review request. If it does not meet the above criteria, the request will be passed to a manager within the organisation who led as main point of contact during the investigation. They will write to the requestor to explain why matters do not meet the joint review criteria. Where a possible joint working review is identified, the LGSCO Investigator will refer matters to the relevant LGSCO reviewing assistant ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator will refer matters to the relevant reviews manager for their consideration as the reviewing officers.

Within 5 working days of receiving referral, the reviewing officers will meet to confirm the request meets the above joint review criteria, decide on approach for preparing the joint review response and agree a timescale to respond. The finalised joint response should be sent to the requestor by the organisation who led as main point of contact during the investigation. The Housing Ombudsman has a dedicated review team that ordinarily responds within a longer timeframe than LGSCO. However, for joint reviews, it is agreed that Housing Ombudsman should respond within the shorter LGSCO timeframe (aim within 20 working days of the organisation receiving the review request).

Review requests may be received which only covers one organisation. In these cases, the relevant organisation will consider the review request independently for a Housing Ombudsman only review or LGSCO only review. The relevant organisation will write to the requestor informing them of this and, if necessary provide details of its own usual review process.

Taking legal advice

During an investigation, legal advice may be sought by the LGSCO Investigator or the Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator, depending on which may be better placed to provide the advice, considering its subject matter. The legal firm may communicate with both organisations as part of forming a joint response.

If a complainant issues a letter under the pre-action protocol for judicial review, or otherwise seeks to bring an action in court about a joint investigation, the investigator and adjudicator should immediately inform both the LGSCO Assistant Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Dispute Resolution Manager for them to decide on an approach and who will take the lead.

Service Level Agreements

Staff operating within the housing joint working scheme commit to:

• sharing information and agreeing approach for a joint working referral within five working days of receipt
• investigator and adjudicator initial meeting within 10 working days of case allocation
• sending joint information requests within 20 working days of the investigator and adjudicator’s initial meeting
• investigator and adjudicator prepare their initial view of draft decision within 20 working days of receiving response to joint information request
• investigator and adjudicator meeting and finalising joint draft decision within 20 working days of preparing their initial draft view
• investigator and adjudicator meeting within 10 working days of receiving draft decision comments
• sending joint final decisions within 10 working days of the investigator and adjudicator considering the draft decision comments
• investigator and adjudicator meeting within 5 working days of receiving a joint review request
• reviewing officers meet within 5 working days of receiving a joint review request referral
• responding to review requests within 20 working days of receipt

Where these timeframes cannot be met, relevant staff will agree alternative deadlines and communicate effectively to all parties involved.