Hafod Housing Association and Cardiff Council were deemed to have neglected duties under Equality Act
A new report published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has identified failures by a housing association and Cardiff Council in making reasonable adjustments for complainants.
The inclusion and accessibility report titled ‘Equality Matters’ found “shortcomings” in the way Hafod Housing Association dealt with a tenant’s anti-social behaviour (ASB) complaint about parking and noise nuisance.
The tenant referred to as ‘Miss C’ had a brain tumour diagnosis at the time of complaint and the Ombudsman identified a “lack of meaningful engagement” from the social landlord in relation to her health issues, causing “distress” and an “injustice.”
The Ombudsman also found that despite instances where action was taken, Haford had not always acted in accordance with ASB policy and procedure, citing ineffective communication and record-keeping and “missed opportunities” to consider reasonable adjustments at the early stages of complaint.
A spokesperson for Hafod said: “We always seek to provide a great service to our customers, and we have taken Miss C’s complaint very seriously. We are committed to learning from it to ensure our customers receive the support they need from us, especially during difficult circumstances such as these.
”Since Miss C’s complaint, we have made changes to our ASB procedure, and all recommendations given to us from the Ombudsman have been adhered to. Within Hafod’s updated procedure we have highlighted our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, including that we make reasonable adjustments for customers who have protected characteristics.”
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Meanwhile, Cardiff Council came under scrutiny by the watchdog, which found that the local authority had failed to remove barriers in communication faced by a tenant with disabilities.
‘Miss I’ had complained about flies in her property from exterior bins, a negative relationship with housing officers and reasonable adjustments for communication.
The Ombudsman gained the council’s agreement to write to Ms I to confirm the reasonable adjustments, allocation of a new housing officer and arrangements for the installation of fly screens.
A council spokesperson said: “Cardiff Council is committed to meeting the equality needs of our residents and customers. Complaints are taken very seriously and fully investigated, and findings help us identify if any improvements to our services are necessary.
“In this case, the complaint to the Ombudsman was resolved without investigation, following our agreement to write to the tenant to confirm reasonable adjustments to how we communicated with them, alongside the allocation of a new housing officer and the installation of fly screens at her home.
“We can confirm that all of these actions were taken and put in place in 2023.”
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However, not all complaints were upheld by the Ombudsman post-investigation, such as in the case of Ms J’s complaint that Bron Afon Housing declined to fund works to adapt her home for her disabled daughter.
The watchdog found that the adaptations panel had fully considered her request and that the family’s wishes had not been “disregarded” as the complainant had said.
Given that Miss J was concerned that the family was not given a reasonable opportunity to make its case directly to the panel, the Ombudsman noted that there is no procedural right to do this.
The findings indicated that the landlord’s decision “appeared to be compatible with the principles of the Equality Act” as it had “evaluated what options would be cost effective and appropriate, in relation to their wider housing stock, and did so in line with its policy and guidance.”
However, the Ombudsman pointed out that the 8,000-home housing provider was using criteria and guidance from 2009 and therefore needs to be updated to incorporate newer and relevant legislation, including the Equality Act.
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