§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of establishing the housing association tenants ombudsman service; how much the operation of the service will cost; how these costs are broken down; how many staff are employed by the service; and what is its current remit.
§ Sir George YoungThe ombudsman service for housing association tenants became operational in November 1993. The operating budget is as follows:912W
1993–94 £'000 1994–95 £'000 1995–96 £'000 Staff costs 150 227 227 Non-staff costs1 79 145 143 Mediation/Legal, other Operational costs 103 123 110 332 495 480 1 In 1993–94, there was an additional sum of £24,000 to set up premises. The total staffing complement available to the ombudsman service is seven.
The main remit of the ombudsman service is to deal fairly and effectively with complaints about maladministration by registered housing associations. The service considers complaints from housing association tenants, applicants for a housing association tenancy and people receiving housing management services from an association.