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 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 (25 005 308)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complained about how the Council dealt with her request for a domestic abuse floating support officer. There is no evidence the Council offered and withdrew a domestic abuse floating support officer or that an officer dealt with her inappropriately. However, the Council misled Miss X about her eligibility, delayed telling Miss X about the eligibility criteria and delayed changing the male officer allocated to Miss X. That raised Miss X’s expectations and caused her distress. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X, reconsider her eligibility and provide guidance for officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide guidance to frontline officers about the qualifying criteria for the domestic abuse floating support service.The Council will review its procedures for allocating male officers to female victims of domestic abuse and vice versa.

  • London Borough of Barnet (25 004 222)

    Category: Housing Date: 24-Dec-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for giving Mr X incorrect information about whether it could offer him financial assistance with securing private rented accommodation. As a result Mr X signed a tenancy agreement he otherwise would not have accepted and has gotten into debt. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to him for the distress caused.

    Service improvements

    Ensure that it reminds staff of the requirements to be considered for financial assistance of the private rental scheme so other are not misadvised.

  • London Borough of Barnet (25 000 158)

    Category: Housing Date: 03-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s actions when she found out she was going to be evicted and it placed her in temporary homeless accommodation. She also complained about how it handled her housing register reassessment request. We found fault because of poor communication from the Council, a delayed suitability assessment of her accommodation and it not reviewing documents it said it would. This caused Ms X avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council will apologise to Ms X, make a payment to her and share guidance with its officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share the Ombudsman’s focus report - unsuitable temporary accommodation: guide for practitioners (issued May 2023) with relevant staff, managers and directors. This will help to ensure relevant staff are fully aware of their responsibilities relating to the suitability of temporary homeless accommodation.

  • 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 (24 008 727)

    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.

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