Service improvements

Cambridge City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Cambridge City Council as a CSV file.

  • Cambridge City Council (22 006 613)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 17-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mrs E complained about the Council’s processes and decisions regarding the change of use of the land near to her house. She says the Council failed to conduct an environmental impact assessment and it has not demonstrated how it will protect the biodiversity of the site. She also says it failed to properly secure the site and it has now increased the number of organisations that have access to it. We find the Council was at fault not having a robust system to secure the site. The Council has taken steps to resolve this matter, and so I do not recommend anything further. The Council was also at fault for failing to keep sufficient records to demonstrate its decision making. Although this did not cause Mrs E a significant injustice, the Council has agreed to our recommendation to review its record keeping procedures.

    Service improvements

    The Council will change its record keeping procedures to ensure it keeps records of biodiversity assessments and inspections even when it does not identify any substantive issues or risks.

  • Cambridge City Council (21 018 416)

    Category: Housing Date: 10-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council provided him with interim accommodation on the hospital scheme that was not suitable for his needs when he was discharged from hospital. Mr X further complained the Council removed him from the hospital scheme without telling him and delayed in deciding if he was in priority need for housing. There was fault in how the Council recorded its decisions about the suitability of the accommodation and how it discussed the hospital scheme with Mr X. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £100 to recognise the uncertainty this caused him.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review how it shares information about the local out-of-hospital homelessness scheme’s benefits and expectations with people, and how it accurately records those conversations in its records.The Council will provide evidence it has reminded staff to accurately record decisions about the suitability of accommodation, as it had already recognised it was necessary.

  • Cambridge City Council (21 015 046)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 25-Sep-2022

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for how it investigated noise coming from a nearby business and decided it was not a statutory nuisance. However, this did not cause the complainant, Ms X, a significant personal injustice, as the Council subsequently acted without fault and came to the same conclusion. The Council has offered to make improvements to its practice, which we welcome. It has agreed to send the Ombudsman evidence it has completed those actions.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide evidence that it has carried out the service improvements it identified in a complaint response. These are:• a review of its noise assessment and decision-making processes;• measures to ensure consistency around officer attendance on visits and signing off on decision-making;• relevant training to be arranged for environmental health officers to ensure processes are followed; and• review and update the Council's website to make it clear what customers can expect from this part of the service.

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