Service improvements

London Borough of Barnet

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 11 - 18 of 18 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for London Borough of Barnet as a CSV file.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 016 999)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 09-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Ms D complained about the Council’s handling of her council tax liability for a property she was not living at. She said she experienced distress and has financial costs as a result. We found no fault by the Council in how it handled Ms D’s council tax liability and recovery. However, there was some fault as it should have shared information about its Discretionary Council Tax Relief scheme sooner. The Council will apologise to acknowledge the limited injustice this caused her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff in its council tax and enforcement teams to share information about its Council’s Discretionary Council Tax Relief scheme with people liable for council tax who may be experiencing hardship.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 013 834)

    Category: Housing Date: 12-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained on behalf of Mrs Y about the Council’s handling of events around Mrs Y’s homelessness application and provision of interim and temporary accommodation. We found the Council was at fault for failing to properly keep the suitability of Mrs Y’s accommodation under review, including after reports of anti-social behaviour and harassment. The Council agreed to apologise and pay a symbolic financial remedy for the distress caused by the time Mrs Y spent in unsuitable accommodation.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its policies and procedures on the assessment of the suitability of accommodation provided to homeless applicants and make any changes needed to ensure this includes clear guidance about:• the steps officers must take to properly assess the suitability of accommodation offered to homeless applicants and record these assessments.• the actions officers should take in response to concerns or complaints from applicants about the suitability of their accommodation.The Council will also provide refresher training for officers to ensure they understand the Council’s duties to provide suitable accommodation for homeless applicants and to keep suitability under review.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 013 744)

    Category: Housing Date: 28-May-2025

    Summary

    Miss D complained the Council placed her unsuitable accommodation. I have upheld the complaint because the Council failed to follow procedures resulting in Miss D being left in unsuitable accommodation for at least six months. The Council has agreed to pay Miss D redress and to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    to issue decision letters for all suitability review requestsimprove recording of decisions by Review Team and Medical Assessment Team

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 013 315)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 21-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained about a lack of social care support for her disabled child, Y. The Council failed to investigate Miss X’s complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council has now started an investigation under the statutory procedure. It agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £100 to acknowledge the frustration and time and trouble caused to her.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind complaint handling staff to progress complaints about the Council’s actions under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 under the statutory children’s complaints procedure.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 011 200)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council delayed its decision-making about her daughter’s special educational needs support and then failed to properly deliver that support. We have found that the Council was at fault. It caused delays, did not provide all the therapy Mrs X’s daughter needed, and did not handle Mrs X’s complaints properly. The Council has agreed to remedy their injustice, including their distress. It will also take steps to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to write to us to set out how it will eliminate delays in deciding special educational needs support.The Council has agreed to ensure its staff are trained in the principles of good complaint handling.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 008 727)

    Category: Housing Date: 09-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained she was in unsuitable accommodation and the Council made mistakes when offering her a property on three occasions. She also complained about poor communication. Miss X said the Council’s actions distressed her. There was fault in the way the Council delayed completing the suitability review. The Council did not evidence it considered its power to accommodate people during the review. The Council fault caused Miss X uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and issue guidance to its staff.

    Service improvements

    •Remind relevant staff to consider and evidence decision making when considering the Council’s powers to accommodate people when completing a review.

  • London Borough of Barnet (24 001 743)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council did not fully deliver provision set out in her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We found fault because her son did not receive all of the provision linked to his plan in the 12 months after it was first issued. This caused Ms X avoidable distress and frustration. It also meant her son did not access the services he should have done. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X, make a payment to her, organise sessions to catch up on what her son missed and issue reminders to relevant staff.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers and relevant managers of the need to take a proactive stance when issues relating to a lack of specified Section F provision in an Education, Health and Care Plan are brought to its attention. This will help to ensure that provision is delivered as it should be and in a timely manner.

  • London Borough of Barnet (23 013 609)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-Jun-2025

    Summary

    We found that North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust failed to consistently provide adequate overnight support to a patient with a learning disability. We also found that the London Borough of Barnet failed to review the patient’s needs in hospital when other professionals noted they had changed. And we found there were avoidable delays in the discharge process, caused by both organisations. These faults caused avoidable distress and uncertainty. We asked the organisations to apologise and provide small financial payments to address this injustice.

    Service improvements

    In this case the Council provided daily day time one-to-one support in the community for a man with a significant learning disability. When the man went into hospital he was distressed and agitated, including at night time. His family and hospital staff asked the Council to arrange for the mans regular care staff to support him at night in hospital. The Council would not review the man's needs and decided, without a review, it could not offer any further support. We found fault with this and said the Council should have completed a robust review of the man's needs. The Council should review its handling of thiscase. It should consider the issues it raises about the support of its serviceusers with learning disabilities during hospital admissions. If it considers itwould be helpful, the Council should consider inviting health partners tocollaborate with a view to improving practice for the future.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings