London Borough of Bexley (23 006 830)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 25-Apr-2024

Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council handled her homelessness application. She said she is still homeless, and the Council is still not helping her. She said it affected her mental health, had an impact on her child, and affected her income. We find the Council at fault. This caused Miss X unnecessary and avoidable distress and frustration, and denied her a right to ask for a review of an important decision. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X, and improve its service.

London Borough of Bexley (23 014 095)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 29-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council refused to consider her complaint about how it handled her daughter Y’s care, that it did not keep her informed about Y and did not try to reunite her with her daughter. The Council was at fault for not considering Ms X’s complaint through the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council will apologise for the frustration this caused Ms X and consider her complaint.

London Borough of Bexley (23 004 796)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 29-May-2024

Summary: Miss X complained, on behalf of her son, Mr Z, about the support the Council provided for his special educational needs. There was fault in how the Council failed to ensure Mr Z received all the support in his Education Health and Care plan or the full tuition hours that he should have done. This meant Mr Z went without some of that support. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr Z and Miss X, and to pay a financial remedy.

London Borough of Bexley (23 011 120)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 06-Jun-2024

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his homelessness application. We found the Council to be at fault. It did not properly consider his priority need, failed to advise Mr X about a rent contribution and took too long to consider his case when it was referred to the Council by the probation service. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr X to remedy his injustice. It should also take action to improve its service.

London Borough of Bexley (23 004 636)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 31-Jul-2024

Summary: Miss X complained, on behalf of her son Mr Y, about the support the Council provided for his special educational needs. There was fault in how the Council failed to ensure Mr Y received some of the support in his Education Health and Care plan between May and October 2022 and how it delayed referring him for an adult social care assessment. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr Y and pay him a financial remedy. It also agreed to review how it monitors referrals of young people for adult social care assessments.

London Borough of Bexley (23 010 928)

Statement Upheld Safeguarding 08-Aug-2024

Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to deal with safeguarding reports about Mrs B properly. It also failed – for six months – to find a new placement for the person in Mrs B’s care home who was a risk to her, despite its best efforts. These failings contributed significantly to harm Mrs B suffered over a nine-month period. The Council has taken steps to improve its service, and it has now also agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs B’s estate to recognise her injustice.

London Borough of Bexley (23 021 007)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 05-Nov-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has failed to provide his son, Y, with suitable alternative education and the content of his Education, Health and Care Plan since January 2022. Mr X says this has caused Y and his family distress and Y has missed out on his education. Mr X wants the Council to put a plan in place to allow Y to receive an appropriate education and return to school. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for delays in putting place Section 19 provision and responding to Mr X’s complaint. The Council has already apologised for this so we have not recommended any remedy.

London Borough of Bexley (23 017 237)

Statement Upheld Private housing 05-Dec-2024

Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with his tenant’s homelessness application following the service of a section 21 notice. We have not found fault by the Council in the way it considered the Homelessness Code of Guidance. We have found fault by the Council, causing injustice, in its communication failures and poor complaint handling. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Mr X, making a payment to reflect the upset caused, and service improvements.

London Borough of Bexley (24 005 655)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 31-Jan-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed increasing his direct payments in line with the National Minimum Wage increase between April and June 2024. The Council delayed implementing the increase which meant Mr X could not fully pay carers during that period. The Council had already paid the shortfall to Mr X and took action to ensure the same fault does not occur again. It agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to recognise the distress, uncertainty and time and trouble caused to Mr X.

London Borough of Bexley (23 019 836)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 17-Mar-2025

Summary: There was fault by the Council which failed to secure some of Y’s special educational provision, failed to complete his annual review and delayed reviewing his personal budget. This caused avoidable confusion and a loss of educational provision. The Council will apologise and make payments to reflect the injustice.