Service improvements

London Borough of Camden

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2027

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 31 - 40 of 50 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Camden (22 016 404)

    Category: Housing Date: 14-Sep-2023

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for poor communication, delay accepting homelessness duties, and providing unsuitable B&B accommodation to Ms X when she was homeless with her young baby. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments to Ms X, and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in the relevant departments to identify learning from this complaint.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that even where it must rely on B&B to meet its accommodation duty, it should consider and record whether particular applicants need accommodation in or near the borough for it to be suitable.The Council has agreed to ensure it tells homeless applicants in short-term B&B placements who need to move to another hotel where they will be going with at least 24 hours’ notice.The Council has agreed to identify a means of ensuring oversight of the relevant dates and deadlines of a homeless application, including when the 56-day relief period will end and a main housing duty decision is due.The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to relevant staff on the circumstances in which the Council has a duty to protect the property of a homeless applicant.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 012 415)

    Category: Housing Date: 07-Jun-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council did not award enough points for overcrowding on her housing register application. The Council awarded points in line with its housing allocation scheme. However the Council was at fault for the delay in issuing its review decision and for not explaining the information it relied on when it made that decision. The Council will apologise to Mrs X for the frustration caused and review its process.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind all relevant officers the need to ensure housing register decision letters explain what information was considered and the reasons for the conclusions reached.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 011 895)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Jul-2023

    Summary

    Ms X complains about how the Council dealt with her application for the housing register. The Council is at fault as it did not respond to Ms X’s request for the Executive Director to consider if she had exceptional circumstances and failed to tell her that it would not consider her complaint. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice to Ms X by sending a written apology, making a symbolic payment of £200 to acknowledge the distress caused and considering whether Ms X has exceptional circumstances to join the housing register.

    Service improvements

    By training, or other means, remind officers of the provisions of its complaints procedure and that complaints about statutory reviews, such as eligibility for the housing register, will not be considered through the complaints process.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 011 889)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 17-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained about insufficient action taken by the Council regarding concerns he raised about anti-social behaviour near his property. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. Whilst I acknowledge the Council considered Mr X’s case and took steps to resolve his concerns, the Council failed to keep Mr X sufficiently updated nor did it provide him with information about the Community Trigger Process. The Council have agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider the appropriateness of whether to provide information about the Community Trigger process on its online support for anti-social behaviour. The Council will provide the Ombudsman with an outcome of its review and its reasons for any decision it makes.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 011 782)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 10-May-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council closed her council tax account in error which led to a build-up of debt. The Council was at fault for closing the account and for failing to consider using its discretion to reduce Miss X’s council tax bill. The Council has agreed to pay Miss X £150 in recognition of the distress caused and offer Miss X the opportunity to apply for a discretionary reduction to reduce the council tax owed.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind council tax andcomplaint officers that the Council should consider using discretion to reducecouncil tax bills when asked to do so, even if the request does not refer tothe relevant legislation.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 008 774)

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

    Summary

    Mrs F complained about the Council’s handling of her grandmother’s interim care arrangements in a care home and the discharge planning from hospital. The Council agreed it had provided incorrect information about paying for the care and agreed to pay the care home directly. We found there was not enough evidence of fault in how it handled the hospital discharge, but there was fault in how it communicated with Mrs F and its complaints handling. The Council agreed to apologise and make payment to remedy the injustice this caused her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind its Adult Social Care staff and managers to only issue warning letters about a person’s or their representative’s behavior, or obstructions, if this is evidence and justified in the circumstances.The Council will remind its Adult Social Care staff and Complaints Team to respond to stage two complaint requests within the timescales set out in the Council’s Complaints Policy. This includes sharing its decisions not to investigate complaints under stage two without delay.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 007 121)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 27-Apr-2023

    Summary

    Ms B says the Council failed to act on antisocial behaviour from a neighbouring resident and failed to respond to her complaint. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the antisocial behaviour issues. However, the Council failed to keep Ms B up-to-date and respond to her correspondence and delayed responding to her complaint. An apology, payment to Ms B and training for officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will carry out a training session for officers dealing with antisocial behaviour complaints to ensure they are aware of the community trigger process.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 009 421)

    Category: Housing Date: 01-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council has failed to correctly assess his housing application. We find the Council was at fault for failing to consider all relevant evidence and failing to follow its policy. The Council has agreed to apologise for the injustice caused, review the application and implement service improvements to prevent the fault reoccurring.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff to give proper scrutiny to any relevant supporting evidence and the need to explain their reasons for not relying on the evidence where they decide not to.The Council will remind staff of its policy for social need and hardship points. This includes the importance of considering all the factors listed in the policy and ensuring the decision reasons are recorded in full.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 004 833)

    Category: Education Date: 19-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mr Y complained the Council unreasonably refused his application for a free school travel pass for his daughter. We found fault in how the Council consider his application. But this fault did not alter the outcome of Mr Y’s application and so we have completed our investigation.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its school transport policy to ensure that it clarifies the 75-minute journey time referred to is for a one-way journey and not for both legs of the journey combined.The Council will provide guidance to all staff considering applications and appeals for free school travel passes to make sure they are applying the 75-minute journey time and the nearest qualifying school criterion correctly.

  • London Borough of Camden (22 001 475)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 02-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Miss B complained about the actions of the Council in providing support to her and daughter, C, when they experienced difficulties. She said the Council victimised her and failed treat her in a transparent and fair manner. We found the Council delayed excessively in dealing with her complaint through the three stage statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to pay Miss B £200 and improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review the operation of its three stage complaints process to identify where it can make changes to prevent delays.

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