Conflicts of interest policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to protect the integrity of THO’s decision-making process, to enable our stakeholders to have confidence in our integrity, and to protect the reputation of staff and non-executive members. The policy also provides a framework for dealing with any actual or potential conflicts of interest.

2. Scope

The policy covers Housing Ombudsman employees, both permanent and fixed term, non-executive directors, agency workers, bank workers, secondees, suppliers and consultants, collectively referred to as ‘colleagues’. All are required to declare any actual or perceived conflict of interest regarding the work they undertake.

When a conflict or potential conflict of interest has been identified it must be reported to the appropriate line manager, who will provide guidance in terms of what actions are required to mitigate or manage the conflict.

It is the responsibility of the colleague to identify and declare an actual or potential conflict of interest and the responsibility of their line manager to put appropriate measures in place to manage the conflict of interest in the workplace.

Non-executive directors must report any conflict or potential conflict of interest to the Governance and Assurance team. The information is then used to determine if non-executive directors need to be excluded from individual discussions in/outside of meetings.

Executive leaders, the Ombudsman and non-executive director disclosures are reported to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) and published in a ‘Register of Interests’ on our website.

3. Policy statement

The Housing Ombudsman is committed to the fair treatment of all our colleagues and customers. This means maintaining impartiality, integrity, exercising good judgement, and demonstrating good governance and risk management over situations of conflict or potential conflict.

The Housing Ombudsman reserves the right to withdraw a job offer or terminate a contract of employment if a conflict of interest is identified that cannot be resolved.

Colleagues should behave in accordance with the Code of Conduct guidelines in the Housing Ombudsman Employee Handbook and in line with our vision and values. Our values are Fairness, Learning, Openness and Excellence.

The Conflicts of Interest policy will be covered as part of the induction of all colleagues.

4. Responsibility

All Housing Ombudsman colleagues should declare immediately and take actions to avoid any conflict between the interests of Housing Ombudsman and personal, professional, and business interests. This applies where a conflict may be ‘perceived’ as well as where one definitively exists and all such instances must be recorded for transparency.

Examples of conflicts of interest may include:

  • a colleague who holds a public office elsewhere in an organisation that may interact with the Housing Ombudsman
  • a colleague who has secondary employment with a member landlord or an organisation that may interact with the Housing Ombudsman
  • a colleague who is dealing with a complaint about their current landlord, a previous landlord from within the last 3 years, a landlord they have worked for in the last 3 years or from an individual personally known to them.
  • a colleague who is participating in a decision to award a contract and has shares in one or more of the businesses under consideration, or is a director, partner or employee or related to someone who is (relative)*
  • a colleague who is engaged in political activities which compromise or may be seen to compromise their impartiality - there are some roles that are restricted from political activities, see section 7
  • a colleague who is in a relationship with another colleague working in the same team or service area

We do not expect that colleagues who do not deal with complaints directly will have conflicts due to their employment by a Scheme member/customer representative group, or by being a resident of a Scheme member. However, to support transparency, all such interests must be recorded and must be declared.

An annual update will be issued inviting all colleagues to update their (potential) conflicts of interests. Housing Ombudsman managers are responsible for ensuring completion and a thorough review of the annual declarations of interest from their direct reports. Where a declaration has been made, the manager is responsible for ensuring appropriate restrictions are put in place to avoid any conflict of interest in the workplace. Details of the agreed restrictions should be recorded on the declaration form before sign-off and after a discussion with the employee to make clear their responsibilities. Line managers should complete the online form and send this to the IT team to action any required case management system restrictions.

A common example would be placing a restriction within the Housing Ombudsman case management system to ensure that an employee raising a personal complaint about their own member landlord does not personally handle, or have access to, that case. Where an employee has declared they are, or have been in the last 3 years, a tenant or employee of a member landlord this does not warrant a system restriction. However, conflicted employees should not be assigned any casework relating to that member landlord. This restriction should be managed locally by the employee’s line manager when allocating casework.

Non-executive directors are responsible to declare any (potential) conflicts of interest to the Governance and Assurance team. In addition, an annual update will be issued to all non-executive directors by the Governance and Assurance team.

Establishing conflict of interest throughout the procurement process of prospective new suppliers/consultants and also current suppliers/consultants is the responsibility of the Head of Finance and Procurement.

Additional mechanisms may be put in place to ensure possible conflicts are appropriately managed. These will be overseen by the Director of Finance, Procurement and Digital Services.

* A relative may be a child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, brother, sister, spouse or civil partner of the committee member or any person living with the committee member as his or her partner.

5. Identification, recording, and reviewing

Following recruitment, all newly appointed candidates*, including non-executive directors, and existing colleagues should make a full, written disclosure of their interests. The declaration of interests should include all private, personal (such as relationships and posts held that could potentially result in a conflict of interest), political and financial interests relevant to decision-making, the management of contracts, complaint handling and giving policy advice.

All offers of employment are subject to disclosure of any conflicts of interest including political affiliations (if applicable) and their clearance approved by the Housing Ombudsman.

Throughout the recruitment process the Housing Ombudsman will clearly state that all offers of employment will be subject to disclosure of any conflicts of interest including political affiliations (if applicable). If the Housing Ombudsman is not able to accommodate the conflicts of interest, then the offer will be withdrawn.

An annual reconfirmation of interests will be led by the People team (by the Governance and Assurance team for non-executive directors) to ensure these remain up to date and to identify areas of potential conflict for management.

It is the responsibility of individual colleagues to inform the Governance and Assurance team (non-executive directors) and People team (all other colleagues) if there has been a change in their personal circumstances, which may create a potential conflict of interest
between annual confirmations.

For Bank and Agency Workers specifically, a reconfirmation is required every 6months. This will be an online exercise managed through the HR system.

The People and Governance and Assurance teams will work together to ensure that an annual confirmation of interests of colleagues is undertaken and that the ‘Register of Interests’ for the Executive Leadership Team and Non-Executive Directors, which is published on our website, is updated.

Declarations of gifts, hospitality and other benefits should be notified to a colleague’s line manager following protocols set out in the Anti-Bribery policy and separately recorded as and when received on the Gifts and Hospitality Register. Gifts and hospitality related to the Executive Leadership Team (Directors and Non-Executive Directors and above) are published on our website and subject to quarterly updates.

*Directors, non-executive directors and bank workers are required to declare any possible conflicts of interest prior to making an application to the Housing Ombudsman.

6. Conflict management

During all meetings or activities, colleagues, including non-executive directors, will disclose any interests in a transaction or decision. After disclosure, the colleague may be asked to leave the room for the discussion by the Chair and, if so, will not be able to take part in the decision or any further discussions related to the matter. Any such disclosure and the subsequent actions taken will be noted in the minutes.

Any colleague looking to undertake secondary employment, paid or unpaid, that may constitute a conflict of interest should bring this to the attention of their line manager prior to accepting any offer. The Housing Ombudsman will not unreasonably withhold permission for secondary employment.

Colleagues who are tenants of member landlords, or have been in the last 3 years, should declare this and bring to the attention of their line manager to ensure they are not allocated cases from these members. The line manager should counter-sign the declaration to confirm they are aware of the declaration and add appropriate comments to the form stating the required restrictions.

Where colleagues have a personal relationship with a complainant who has raised a complaint that is allocated to them, they should inform their line manager immediately, who will reallocate the case and ensure access is restricted.

Guidance on how to manage ‘personal complaints’ by employees (as a tenant) to the Ombudsman about a member landlord, is included in the Employee Handbook ‘Impartiality and Conflict of Interest’ section.

Whistleblowing arrangements are in place to address concerns where an activity that is deemed illegal or unethical exists.

This policy is not meant to supplement good judgment; colleagues should respect its spirit as well as its wording.

7. Undertaking political activities

7.1 General principles

It is of paramount importance that the Housing Ombudsman staff should be, and be seen to be, impartial and non-partisan. Accordingly, certain roles may be subject to restricted permission in relation to undertaking certain party political activities and they may also have limited permission to take part in non-party campaigning which is directed at a body in the Housing Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The Housing Ombudsman reserves the right to refuse or restrict permission for its staff to engage in certain political activities and decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

For the Housing Ombudsman to be seen to determine local authority cases independently and impartially, and to serve successive governments of different political persuasions, stakeholders and the public must have confidence that staff personal views do not affect the discharge of their official duties. The intent of the rules governing political activities by Housing Ombudsman staff is to allow them the greatest possible freedom to take part in public life without infringing this fundamental principle. The rules are concerned with political activities that give public expression to political views, rather than privately held beliefs and opinions.

7.2 National political activities

Activities subject to restriction are:

  1. holding, in a party political organisation, office which impinges wholly or mainly on party politics in the field of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and NI Assembly
  2. speaking in public on matters of national political controversy, or expressing views on such matters in letters to the press, books, articles or leaflets, through e-mails or on the internet
  3. being announced publicly as a candidate for Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, or the NI Assembly
  4. canvassing on behalf of a candidate for Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, NI Assembly or on behalf of a political party

7.3 Local political activities

Activities subject to restriction are:

  1. holding, in a party political organisation, office impinging wholly or mainly on party politics in the local field
  2. speaking in public on matters of local party political controversy or expressing views on such matters in letters to the press, books, articles or leaflets through emails or on the internet
  3. candidature for, or co-option to, local authorities, mayoralties or Police & Crime Commissioner roles
  4. canvassing on behalf of candidates for election to local authorities or a local political organisation

Some types of political activities which are prohibited under this policy include:

  • party political campaigning in the course of employment at the Housing Ombudsaman
  • using the organisation’s resources to assist with any political activity
  • expressing any political views to customers/stakeholders
  • attempting to coerce others into holding any particular political opinion
  • displaying of political symbols in the workplace environment
  • implying that the organisation supports a particular political group or cause
  • judging a colleague or acting against them based on their party political affiliation or political opinions

This Conflicts of Interest policy prohibits any Housing Ombudsman employee from mentioning the organisation’s name alongside any political statement or opinion. The Housing Ombudsman staff are instructed not to engage in any activity or make any statement which may bring the organisation into disrepute via their political activities outside of work. This applies to any method of communication including through personal social media accounts that identify the person as a Housing Ombudsman employee.

7.4 Classification of staff

The extent to which a HOS member of staff can take part in political activities depends in which 2 groups they may fall into:

(a) Restricted group. Roles prohibited to engage in political activities. These are:

  • all roles within the Dispute Support and Resolution (DS&R) team
  • Insight and Development (I&D) roles
  • Duty to Monitor roles
  • Communications and Stakeholder Engagement team

(b) Politically free group. The following roles are free to engage in political activities subject to pre-warning and consideration of whether conflicts need to be managed:

  • all roles within Finance, Procurement and Digital Services
  • all roles within Corporate Services and Change
  • Quality and Customer Insight teams

The Housing Ombudsman expects any staff member who is standing for Parliament to resign before doing so.

If a member of staff has any intention to stand for a local authority, they must inform their line manager and the Head of Transformation – Digital, Data and Technology via the Governance inbox.

If a member of staff is given permission to take part in political activities, they must request renewal of such permission if they move to another area of work within the Housing Ombudsman.

Such activities must be given up if they are moved to a job where permission cannot be granted.

Housing Ombudsman staff may not take part in any political activity during the course of the working day or when on official premises. Staff may not attend in their official capacity any outside conference or function convened by or under the aegis of a party political organisation.

It is equally undesirable for HOS staff to be present on other party occasions, including meetings of party Parliamentary committees.

If a member of staff has been given permission to engage in political activities, they must not allow the expression of their political views to constitute so strong and comprehensive a commitment to one political party as to inhibit or appear to inhibit loyal and effective service to the Housing Ombudsman. Staff must take particular care to express comment with moderation, particularly about matters for which the Housing Ombudsman is responsible; to avoid comment altogether about matters of controversy affecting the responsibility of the Housing Ombudsman; and to avoid personal attacks. Staff must also take care to avoid any embarrassment, which could result from bringing themselves prominently to public notice, in party political controversy.

Staff do not need permission to take part in activities organised by their trade union or the staff representatives group. Elected trade union representatives may comment on government policy when representing the legitimate interest of members, but in doing so they must make it clear that they are expressing views as representatives of the union and not as Housing Ombudsman employees.

7.5 Reinstatement

The Housing Ombudsman has discretion to reinstate people who have resigned to stand for election to Parliament: this discretion will only be exercised where it is possible to post the person, at least initially, to a non-sensitive area of work.

Salary is not payable for any break in service while standing for election as, or serving as, a member and the period of the break will not count for pension contributions purposes.

7.6 Political activities – appeals

Staff have the right of appeal to the Housing Ombudsman Executive Leadership Team (ELT) against any refusal by HOS to allow participation in political activities.

If the employee submitting the appeal is a member of ELT, then the appeal should be addressed to the Housing Ombudsman.

 

8. Relationships at work

The Housing Ombudsman recognises that colleagues who work together form close personal relationships. In many cases a personal relationship between colleagues will not interfere with work.

However, sometimes a personal relationship will be or become problematic because it adversely impacts on other colleagues or negatively affects business efficiency. Personal relationships can be particularly problematic where they involve members of the same team or are between a supervisor/manager and team member.

Issues that might arise as a result of such a close personal relationship are:

  • lack of transparency in relation to workplace matters
  • risks to the confidentiality of business information
  • actual or perceived bias regarding promotion, annual leave allocation, appraisals, disciplinaries, and grievances
  • potential for negative effect on general public perception of fairness, objectivity or impartiality
  • fear of favouritism by other colleagues
  • general adverse impact on team dynamics and reduction in team morale
  • increased legal risks in the event of a relationship breakdown

Personal relationships will not be limited to romantic relationships but may be any close relationship such as family members/partners/close friends that may be considered to have potential on work. The Housing Ombudsman requires its staff to declare such personal relationships to the line manager as these could be seen as conflict of interest and will reserve the right to take appropriate action following investigation of any issues.

9. Data protection

The organisation processes personal data collected for declaration of conflicts of interest in accordance with its data privacy by design policy. Data collected as part of managing conflicts of interest declarations is held securely and accessed by, and disclosed to, individuals only for the purposes of completing the process and managing such declarations. The exception to this is the data storage of declaration of conflict of interests for non-executive directors. As a public sector organisation, and in the interests of transparency as well as due diligence, some conflict of interest data is published on our website.

Inappropriate access or disclosure of employee data constitutes a data breach and should be reported in accordance with the organisation's data privacy by design policy immediately. It may also constitute a disciplinary offence, which will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure.

 

Updated July 2025

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