London Borough of Bromley
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 173 complaints. Of these, 50 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 80 complaints. We investigated 43 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 43 complaints and upheld 38.
88% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 84% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Bromley's population, this is 11.5 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
9.1 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 3 out of 38 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
8% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 12% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 30 cases.
In 30 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against London Borough of Bromley
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Family of seven left to live in one bedroom flat by Bromley council
Bromley council has agreed to pay a family £6,000 after it did not do enough to help them when they were threatened with homelessness, following a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation.
Council cuts London family’s support for disabled son without reassessment
A man with special needs should not have had his support package significantly cut by London Borough of Bromley, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Parents of a disabled teenager were left without any support because the London Borough of Bromley did not put plans in place for when he turned 18, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has found.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
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.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 24 020 888
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council agreed to remind the relevant officers to ensure an estimated personal budget is shared with the person at the start of the care and support planning process.
- The Council agreed to review how it ensures care visits are charged in line with what is recorded within the support plan
Case reference: 24 019 703
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- Review and, where necessary, update its guidance and procedures to ensure recovery action is paused while discount/exemption applications are under consideration, that any court costs are reviewed promptly where later decisions extinguish or reduce liability, and that these steps are clearly communicated to taxpayers.
Case reference: 24 019 317
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- By training or otherwise, remind relevant staff of the Council’s overarching responsibility of providing temporary accommodation to applicants under the main housing duty. This includes having oversight of the management of the properties where the Council secures the temporary accommodation through a registered provider / property letting agency.
- Ensure the Council issues formal offer letters including details of the right to seek suitability review of the accommodation, when the Council has to move an applicant from temporary accommodation to new temporary accommodation even in an emergency.
- Ensure the Council discharges its duty by completing suitability assessments before interim or temporary accommodation is offered to an applicant.
- •remind relevant staff that where the Council owes or has owed the main housing duty to an applicant, the Council has a duty to protect the applicant’s personal belongings if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged in situations.
Case reference: 24 019 102
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will review how it manages and oversees transfers in Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans for children and young people moving to its area to ensure it complies with Section 15 of the SEND regulations 2014, and how it communicates with young people and their parents or carers about important decisions within the EHC process and subsequent appeal rights. The Council will identify a timebound action plan to complete any improvements that are required to avoid the same faults occurring in the future.
- The Council will consider a decision we made which found fault in how it handled a young person's Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan over a period of two years at a relevant scrutiny committee and decide if there are any further actions the Council intends to take in relation to the identified faults.
Case reference: 24 019 100
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will ensure all officers responding to complaints are aware of our Complaint Handling Code, with specific reference to section 5.4 which states: the person responding to a complaint should clarify with the complainant any parts of the complaint they are unclear about, and give the complainant a fair chance to set out their position.
Case reference: 24 018 413
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Produce an action plan to demonstrate how the council will ensure that it is following the relevant legislation and guidance in relation to Electively Home Educated children and children with Education, Health and Care Plans. This action plan should provide details about how it will meet the following outcomes:a) Ensuring relevant staff are aware that a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan needs to be updated when they become Electively Home Educated and put in place a process to ensure this is completed. b) Ensuring relevant staff are aware that the Council has a duty to consider whether it is appropriate to continue to fund a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan provision when they become Electively Home Educated and put in place a process to ensure this is completed.c) Ensuring relevant staff are aware of the Council’s duty to either find a suitable school placement or provide education for a child when a parent confirms they no longer wish to Electively Home Educate their child. d) Show how it intends to address delays with Education, Health and Care Plan annual reviews and production of Education, Health and Care Plans within the statutory timescales.e) Ensuring relevantstaff are aware of the statutory requirement and timescales in issuingnotification letters following a child’s annual review meeting includingproviding information about a person’s right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Case reference: 24 015 200
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will send an email reminder to relevant staff reconfirming the Council's responsibility to secure SEN provision.
Case reference: 24 014 728
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Remind staff either by training or written guidance that it must complete annual reviews within the statutory timescales.
Case reference: 24 014 206
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind relevant staff to consider whether the Council owes a child or young person a section 19 alternative provision duty where it is aware the young person is not attending school, including where the Council is carrying out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for the young person.
Case reference: 24 014 166
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to share our final decision with its SEND Panel Members and remind them that to prevent delay, they should ensure they have all the information they require before making their decisions.
Last updated: 4 April 2015