More than 500 unread police welfare reports were uncovered during a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation into a safeguarding complaint about London Borough of Haringey.

The Ombudsman was contacted by a woman who complained that Haringey did not act quickly enough when she reported concerns about a friend’s living situation.

The woman said the council had not done enough to help the friend in the year before he had a fall during a seizure, leaving him with a life-changing injury. Both she and the emergency services had alerted the council to their concerns about the man’s health and vulnerability, including that he was at risk of being made homeless.

During the Ombudsman’s enquiries into the woman’s complaint, the council revealed it had more than 1,100 unread emails in its social work inbox, including 500 police reports.

Julie Odams, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Chief Executive, said:

“Because of the council’s inertia, the man at the centre of this case was left at risk of significant harm.

“While we cannot say the accident which caused such a major injury would have been prevented if the council had acted sooner, the man’s friends and family are left not knowing whether things might have turned out differently if he’d had the help he needed earlier.

“The council has agreed to put in place an action plan to improve how it responds to safeguarding alerts like these, including training staff on dealing with safeguarding referrals. I hope this shocking case will spur the council into making lasting changes which will benefit other vulnerable people in the borough.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the woman and her friend, and pay the friend £2,000 for leaving him at risk of harm. It will also pay the woman £200 to acknowledge the time and trouble spent pursuing the complaint.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council has agreed to review what has gone wrong, including reviewing its safeguarding policy, and provide training to staff on accepting safeguarding referrals, and on effective complaint handling.

It will also refer the Ombudsman’s report and its action plan to the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the relevant scrutiny committee and keep both updated on progress.

Article date: 02 October 2025