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 - 6 of 6 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 (22 001 582)

    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 (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.

  • London Borough of Barnet (21 016 885)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 19-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council incorrectly decided to pursue him for historic council tax and rent arrears. Mr X says he had applied for discretionary payments from the Council to clear the outstanding amounts. The Council has accepted it failed to respond to Mr X’s original request for a discretionary relief payment for the council tax arrears. It has now written off Mr X’s debt and withdrawn his account from the Bailiffs. We also found the Council failed to respond to Mr X’s original request for a discretionary housing payment for the rent arrears. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make him a payment to recognise the uncertainty and distress caused, including by passing his council tax debt to the Bailiffs, and it has offered to award a discretionary housing payment on part of the rent arrears. The Council also agreed to make several service improvements.

    Service improvements

    the Council has also agreed to review its DHP Scheme to ensure it is clear to staff how to handle requests for a DHP when the applicant has: a shortfall between their weekly rent and the housing benefit/housing element of UC awarded; and weekly overpayment deductions to their account that are less than the applicant’s housing benefit/housing element of UC entitlementthe Council has also agreed to circulate a reminder to relevant staff that complaints concerning discretionary relief payments and discretionary housing payments should be signposted to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman at the end of the complaints process (not the Housing Ombudsman); and,the Council has also agreed to share this decision with relevant staff.

  • London Borough of Barnet (21 014 395)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 22-Sep-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to put in place reasonable adjustments, due to his disability, to assist him in accessing and paying his Council Tax. We found fault with the Council. The Council agreed to our recommendation to write-off the balance of £270.29 owed for the Council Tax bill to address the distress, frustration and inconvenience caused and to provide training to staff about considering and implementing reasonable adjustment requests.

    Service improvements

    Provide training to staff about considering and implementing reasonable adjustment requests.

  • London Borough of Barnet (21 009 273)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 12-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Ms X and Mr Y complained the Council failed to start billing them for council tax when they moved back into their refurbished property, causing a debt to build up over four years. The Council did not follow the correct process when Ms X and Mr Y told it they had moved back into the property. The resulting debt caused them avoidable stress and financial pressure, for which the Council agreed to apologise and pay a financial remedy. It also agreed to restate its offer of a repayment plan and remind its staff of the correct process.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind relevant staff of the correct process for reporting completion of new build, converted, or refurbished properties to the Valuation Office Agency and relisting them for council tax.

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