The Housing Scrutiny Commission of Leicester City Council is scheduled to consider a range of housing-related matters, with a significant focus on complaints handling and procedural compliance within the Housing Division. The meeting will also include updates on the housing register, house building programmes, and the effectiveness of housing pop-up offices.

Complaints Handling and Governance Risks

A key item for discussion is a public statement submitted by Mr Raja, who raises concerns about potential systemic governance risks within the Housing Division, particularly concerning complaints handling, procedural compliance, and oversight transparency. The statement highlights findings from the Regulator of Social Housing in August 2025, which identified gaps in transparency, influence, and accountability, including enhanced complaints handling and formalised reporting on learning from complaints. It also references a June 2025 maladministration finding by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) relating to procedural failures in housing.

Mr Raja's statement outlines specific areas of concern, including:

• Whether Stage One responses are consistently acknowledged within published timeframes.
• The robustness of escalation safeguards when compliant Stage One responses are not issued.
• The perceived independence of complaint investigations following the structural move of the complaints team under the Housing Division.
• Whether complaint performance data is scrutinised with the same rigour as operational metrics.
• The governance of data usage practices in leasehold or enforcement matters.

The statement poses several questions to the Commission, seeking clarification on:

• The percentage of Stage One complaints acknowledged within policy timeframes in Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, and how many exceeded 10 working days for acknowledgement.
• The formal safeguards in place to prevent residents from being procedurally blocked from escalating complaints to Stage Two or the Ombudsman.
• How operational separation is maintained to avoid perceived internal bias in investigations of complaints made about Housing Complaints Officers or Housing Officers.
• The existence and legal review of written policy governing the Council's use of external data sources in leasehold or enforcement matters.
• Whether the Commission receives anonymised performance data on complaint acknowledgement breaches, Stage One response timeliness, instances of delayed escalation, Ombudsman findings of maladministration, and information governance incidents within Housing Services, and if not, why these metrics are not scrutinised like operational performance indicators.

Who Gets Social Housing

The Commission is scheduled to receive an update on the 'headline' Housing Register and Lettings data for Leicester City Council's Housing Register, covering the period from 1 October 2024 to 31 September 2025. This report, titled Who Gets Social Housing, will provide insights into the allocation of social housing within the city.

House Building and Acquisitions

An update on the council's house building and acquisitions programmes is also on the agenda. This report will inform members about the progress and plans related to increasing the housing stock in Leicester.

Housing Pop-Up Office Update

The Commission will receive an update on the latest review of the Housing Pop-up Offices. These offices are initiatives designed to provide accessible housing services to residents.

Work Programme

Members will have the opportunity to consider the Commission's work programme and suggest any additional items they deem necessary for future discussion.

The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, at 5:30 pm in Meeting Room G.01 at City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ.