housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Toxic culture

My time working at the Housing Ombudsman was unexpectedly cut short under distressing and unprofessional circumstances, leaving me feeling unsupported, misrepresented, and dismissed.I joined as an Administrator – Dispute Support and Resolution in February 2025 via Morgan Hunt, on a 6-month contract. A key condition of my accepting the role was the ability to work remotely from abroad—this was clearly communicated in writing and confirmed as agreed prior to my start date. I also reiterated this directly to the interim manager, Davide Matteo, who raised no objections.Despite this, when I attempted to log in from abroad in April, I found my access suddenly revoked with no prior notice. I was told by IT that special approval was required—something neither Morgan Hunt nor management had ever informed me about. I immediately reached out for clarity, but received no real support or explanation.Worse still, I learned days later that my line manager, Ayesha Begum, had told the wider team I had “left the organisation”—a false and damaging statement. At that time, my situation was still supposedly “under review,” and no one had spoken to me directly. I was also wrongly accused of taking equipment without informing management, despite having discussed my travel plans with Davide.Throughout, there was a total lack of transparency, communication, and due process. I was never given a fair opportunity to resolve the issue or explain my side. As a public body tasked with resolving disputes, the Housing Ombudsman failed to uphold even basic fairness and respect toward a contractor.This experience has seriously affected my mental health and employability. I expected more from an organisation that claims to value integrity, inclusion, and accountability. Sadly, their internal culture told a very different story.

Date of experience: Apr 03, 2025