Ombudsman shares steps to improve knowledge and information management following Spotlight report

23 January 2025

Ombudsman shares steps to improve knowledge and information management following Spotlight report

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The Housing Ombudsman has published an evaluation of its Spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM), showing how landlords have implemented some of the recommendations and sharing practical examples of how others can also adopt these improvements. 

Effective Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) by landlords is fundamental for providing decent homes and services. The issue comes up in a range of decisions that the Ombudsman makes and getting it right can be the foundation of effective service delivery or complaint response. 

The Ombudsman’s Spotlight report, released in May 2023, made 21 recommendations. The evaluation sets out some of the key changes landlords have made in response to the recommendations, as well as the main areas where they face barriers or challenges. 

We reviewed information from more than 50 landlords, which included their feedback and self-assessments. Additionally, a workshop was held to receive verbal feedback, and an anonymous survey was conducted with staff who handle complaints. 

Key findings from the analysis includes: 

  • 26% of respondents said they were having issues accessing the information required to inform decision making, compared with 56% in the original survey in 2022 
  • of these respondents, 81% said issues related to accessing information impacted on their ability to meet complaint handling timescales 
  • most respondents cited poor quality or vague information, and databases not synchronising or talking to each other as the main barriers – both 19% 
  • 89% of those that had undergone system changes following the report had experienced positive improvements 
  • 80% of respondents reported that KIM was either very or quite important to their organisation 

The report shares practical examples from landlords on improving KIM, alongside the challenges. For example, one landlord described how disengagement amongst colleagues about the value of KIM can see those plans sidelined. A lack of senior buy-in was also mentioned as a barrier for some landlords. 

There were also positive examples of landlords engaging with residents and improving their insights, including a ‘Big Door Knock’ which allowed the landlord to identify vulnerabilities, understand resident concerns and build relations. 

The report also contains encouraging positive practice on repairs, with landlords now implementing automated appointment reminders – a key recommendation of the Spotlight report. Changes have also been made to ‘no access’ with practical examples in the report of how landlords have overcome this difficult situation. 

Follow up report: Spotlight on knowledge and information management – on the record

The Ombudsman has a host of training and support on Centre for Learning, from e-learning and workshops to case studies, podcasts and webinar recordings. 

Knowledge and information management learning resources

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “We recognise that landlords face many challenges navigating knowledge and information management with low budgets. 

“Records made by operatives every minute will impact the experiences of residents – both positive and negative – and in aggregate will inform the decisions made in the boardroom about the landlord’s future. In turn, these will shape the view of risk in the sector and even national policy priorities. 

“Since the publication of our report in 2023, the need for good KIM has only increased, with it being central to the new consumer regulation. 

“Agreeing and implementing a KIM framework effectively can take time and resources and we understand that landlords only have a finite resource. However, from speaking to landlords, it is clear that effort invested can be seen in both incremental gains and longer-term benefits. 

“Challenges around data need to be considered in both the strategic sense and the practical application day-to-day at operational level. We hope that in sharing some of the improvement actions and innovative approaches, we offer encouragement to those landlords who are working to meet the recommendations.  

“Ultimately understanding residents and homes better will allow landlords to better target interventions, an improved experience and fewer complaints.”