MHCLG to launch a complaints process campaign

Following on from a commitment made in the Social Housing White Paper, MHCLG is due to launch a campaign with the aim of raising awareness among social housing residents of the complaints process, and helping them to feel empowered to make complaints where needed. The campaign will run from mid-to-late February for up to six weeks.

The messaging of the campaign will focus on two areas:

1. Increasing the understanding and awareness of all stages of the process. This messaging will outline the entire process and include a strong call to action to drive people to a landing page on GOV.UK to find further information where required.
   
   
2. Address individual audiences' barriers to progressing complaints. MHCLG will use case studies and other materials featuring positive experiences of complaint processes to dispel the preconceptions of key target audiences.

The campaign will be delivered online across social media, search engines and in other key forums and sites. The government will also produce an online toolkit of campaign materials. This will be made available to stakeholders when the campaign launches.

To prepare for this activity, the government conducted research to better understand social housing residents' perceptions of the complaints process, the specific barriers that stop them making complaints or seeking redress and to identify key audience segments for the campaign.  Full results of the feasibility study that has informed this campaign will be published on GOV.UK soon.

The government recognise that the campaign is likely to come at a time when landlords face exceptional challenges and limitations in delivering services for their residents due to coronavirus. However, it has said its objective is to influence residents’ behaviour over the longer term and make them more aware of the complaints process, rather than driving a mass increase of complaints in the short term.

For more information email Catherine on the contact details below.