Service improvements

London Borough of Barnet

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 - 10 of 17 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 006 759)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 23-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council is pursuing him for a historic council tax debt he believes he does not owe. The Council was at fault because it delayed pursuing Mr X’s council tax debt for a significant period of time and now Mr X is not able to challenge it. The Council has agreed to write off the debt and any associated costs and apologise to Mr X for the anxiety and distress the matter has caused him. The Council will also review its approach to historic council tax debt. This will include reminding staff they must consider whether it is fair and reasonable to pursue debt recovery in individual circumstances.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed it will review its approach in relation to it pursuing historic council tax debt. This means it will consider whether it is fair and reasonable to recover an outstanding debt when a significant amount of time has lapsed since the debt was accrued.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 006 173)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 03-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to act in response to her safeguarding concerns about Mr Y. There was no fault in the Council’s safeguarding response or in the way the Council communicated with Miss X about her concerns. The Council was at fault for failing to signpost Miss X to the Ombudsman, but Miss X was not caused an injustice by this.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers that when it decides not to issue a complaint response, it should inform complainants of their right to bring their complaint to the Ombudsman.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 005 839)

    Category: Housing Date: 29-Mar-2023

    Summary

    The Council’s failure to consider the impact on a particular group of homeless applicants of its policy to award households in long-term temporary accommodation the lowest priority for housing was fault. This has resulted in a situation where such applicants neither have a realistic prospect of securing social housing nor receive active support from the Council to end their homelessness another way. They have therefore been homeless for over a decade. The Council has agreed to review its allocations scheme and take action to improve its service to this group of homeless people.

    Service improvements

    In reviewing its allocations scheme, the Council will: • Considerthe findings in this decision• Ensurethe record of its decision making demonstrates how it considered the impact ofthe scheme on applicants owed a main duty since before November 2012The Council will identify whether and how it can increasethe likelihood of it being able to support main duty applicants accepted beforeNovember 2012 to secure more permanent accommodation.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 004 030)

    Category: Housing Date: 17-Jul-2022

    Summary

    We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Ms X when it ended its homeless duty towards her. This is because the Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice it caused Ms X when it failed to record her request for a review and relied on an old notice to quit to end try and evict her.

    Service improvements

    The Council should remindall staff who handle post of the importance of logging post, especially whensigned for.The Council should reviewprocedures around the issuing of notice to quit for temporary accommodation to ensure newtenancy agreements are issued when underlying reasons for eviction have been addressed(e.g. rent arrears are cleared).

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 003 773)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 05-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Ms C complained the Council failed to give accurate and truthful information in relation to a foster child who was placed in her care. She also says the Council delayed providing her with appropriate support during the placement. We find the Council was at fault as it failed to provide Ms C with all the relevant information before the foster placement began. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure that prior to a fostering placement, all relevant information about a child is provided to a prospective foster carer.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 002 246)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council breached an agreement by attempting to visit his property without notification or appointment and failed to put in place any support following a fall. There is no evidence the Council breached an agreement with Mr X when visiting his property. The Council failed to consider whether to provide emergency support following a fall but that is unlikely to have resulted in Mr X missing out on support. A reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council should remind officers in adult social care of the provisions of the care and statutory support guidance relating to the power the Council has to provide care support in an emergency even when an assessment has not been completed.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 001 582)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 17-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complains about how the Council dealt with her Council Tax Support backdating application. There were some faults by the Council which caused Miss X distress, frustration and time and trouble. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to:•by training or other means remind staff of the importance of dealing with claimants’ applications in a timely manner in line with the Council’s appeal process timescales. Explain what steps the Council will take to monitor performance against timescales•as regards the Council’s statement in its stage 1 response to Miss X’s complaint dated 23 March 2022, confirm if any staff training to improve the Council’s overall service has been completed. Provide evidence.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 000 443)

    Category: Housing Date: 15-Aug-2022

    Summary

    The Council’s delay conducting a statutory homelessness review and failure to provide suitable temporary accommodation was fault. Ms X and her children remain in overcrowded accommodation and missed an offer of housing, causing them injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £10,500, offer her a property, and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to share this decision with staff in the relevant departments.The Council has agreed to ensure staff communicate any delays completing statutory reviews of homeless decisions and agree extensions.The Council has agreed to ensure communications about statutory reviews tell the applicant about their right to appeal to the County Court if the Council fails to meet the deadline for a decision. Amend any template letters and emails as necessary.

  • London Borough of Barnet (22 000 355)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mr and Mrs C complained about the way the Council dealt with concerns its care provider was not meeting their son’s communication needs, falsifying documents relating to his mental capacity assessment and allowing financial abuse to continue. They say their son was put at avoidable risk of harm and financial abuse and they remain anxious about his care and suffered unnecessary distress. We have found fault by the Council in the way it dealt with a safeguarding enquiry but consider the agreed action of an apology, £200 and review of procedure provides a suitable remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its safeguarding process to ensure it provides a timely response to future reports and communicates the outcome with clear reasons to affected parties.

  • London Borough of Barnet (21 018 559)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 11-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Miss R complained the Council made errors when it allocated her payments to her council tax account, which led to debt recovery action. As a result, Miss R said she experienced distress, uncertainty and had time and trouble to bring her concerns to the Council’s attention. We found the Council caused an error, which led to the involvement of enforcement agents. It agreed to apologise to Miss R and make a payment to acknowledge the injustice this caused her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind its officers of its manual process to suspend recovery action with its enforcement agent. This is to ensure no further demand letters are sent to customers after the recovery process has been put on hold, in particular in circumstances where the Council finds it was responsible for an error.

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