Governing body response to performance in complaints post merger 2024-25

Amplius Board Statement to the Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 

The decision to merge Grand Union and Longhurst Group in December 2024 was predicated on creating a new organisation which improves the service and service offer to customers through streamlined, more efficient, operations.

Since December, a key priority for the new organisation has been to successfully integrate the complaint handling practices and processes of both legacy organisations. This has resulted in a noticeable improvement in performance as well as providing a consistent approach to complaint handling across Amplius. The ongoing enhancements to services which will be delivered through the Performance and Improvement Plan, as well as a continued investment in colleague training will ensure continual improvement in complaint handling at Amplius and further enhance the valuable insight that can be taken in learning from complaints.

In the year 2023/24 both legacy organisations had been impacted by challenges from a number of factors which resulted in an increase in customer dissatisfaction and complaints. These were predominately due to a backlog of reactive repair jobs. In 2024, whilst complaint levels have remained high, changes made to the manner in which complaints are handled and investment in the service area has meant that the new organisation is confident that performance has improved and that the customer voice is heard clearly throughout the organisation, including at the Board table.

Amplius has a Customer Experience Committee as part of its formal governance structure, whose role is to fully scrutinise all aspects of complaints, repairs and customer insight mechanisms in more detail. This Committee is responsible for escalating any concerns or areas of opportunity to the Amplius Board that would enhance the customer experience and improve performance.

Amplius also appointed its Member Responsible for Complaints in February 2025; they are a Board Member, a member of the Customer Experience Committee and a current Amplius resident. They and the other Committee Members have challenged and scrutinised Amplius’ self-assessment of the Ombudsman’s Code, thus ensuring that the information provided is accurate and a true reflection of performance and customer experience.

Amplius also introduced a Complaints Working Group in February 2025; this being a mechanism for customers to influence complaints culture at Amplius, as well as providing valuable insight. They too will hold Amplius accountable for progress against the Complaints Performance and Improvement Plan.

Learning from complaints is an integral part of Amplius’ response when things go wrong. The Board receive regular updates on complaints performance and the Board ensures that individual complaint cases that are required to be reported to the Board have appropriate action and learning plans in place to address service failures. Hearing from our customers’ experience is a key part of the Board’s work, it also provides assurance to customers that the Board are listening and driving change.
 
Amplius is confident that it’s compliant with the requirements of the Ombudsman’s Code in all areas. 

Although challenges remain, the ongoing improvements and investment mean that Amplius’ performance continues to improve and ensures that, in respect of our customers, we continue to do the right thing.

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