Decision report 201104994

Summary

Following a complaint from a member of staff, the housing co-operative served a notice of proceedings against tenants Mr and Mrs C. This notice was cancelled when Mr and Mrs C appealed, as the appeal panel said the notice was too harsh.

Mr and Mrs C then complained that the co-operative had not followed their procedures when deciding to issue the notice, that there was no apology for their actions; and they did not give proper notice when they wrote to Mr and Mrs C requesting them to attend the meeting to discuss the matter.

We found that the co-operative did not follow its own procedures and did not apologise, so we upheld these complaints. We also found that the procedures and guidance provided, in relation to how policies should be implemented, were unclear. We did not uphold the complaint about not receiving proper notice of the meeting as we found that enough information was supplied to make Mr and Mrs C aware of the circumstances.

Recommendations

We recommended that the association:

• apologise to Mr and Mrs C for the failings identified; and
• consider conducting a review of the procedures in place that support the implementation of their antisocial behaviour and harassment policy and dignity at work policy, to ensure clarity and consistency in their application.