Service improvements

London Borough of Croydon

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 11 - 20 of 29 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Croydon (22 002 217)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Feb-2023

    Summary

    The Council was at fault when it proposed to significantly reduce Ms X’s care package by transferring most of the responsibility for providing her care to children’s services. The Council’s recommendation to reduce Ms X’s care hours was not made in line with the Care Act Regulations and failed to have due regard to her human rights. This led to a period of avoidable distress and uncertainty for Ms X, during which time she feared she would not be able to care for her child. The Council has agreed to pay Ms X £500 to reflect the serious avoidable distress she was caused. It has also agreed to carry out our recommended service improvements to prevent repetition of faults affecting others.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault when it proposed to significantly reduce a care package by transferring most of the responsibility for providing the care to Children's Services. The Council has agreed to investigate what prompted the council officers carrying out the care needs assessments to believe that adult social care did not have the responsibility to fund eligible needs around caring for a child. The Council will hold a lessons learned meeting within adult social care about the case to ensure against people with eligible care needs being wrongly advised in future.The Council has agreed to remind all adult social care staff of the Council’s duties in relation to eligible outcomes under the Care Act Regulations 2015, in particular the outcome of caring for a child.The Council has agreed to remind all adult social care staff of the Council’s duty to have regard to Article 8 of the Human Rights Act which protects people’s right to respect for family and private life, sets out the limited circumstances in which a public authority can interfere with this, and the relevance of this when assessing the caren eeded for disabled adults to care for their children.

  • London Borough of Croydon (22 001 091)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 12-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to properly assess and meet his care needs since 2017. Mr X also said the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments for his disabilities, did not communicate with him and his representatives properly and failed to consider his complaint about the matters. The Council failed to review Mr X’s care and support in line with the legislation, to meet some of his eligible care needs and to properly consider his complaint about that matter. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X for the frustration and distress caused and pay him £1200.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant adult social care staff of the importance of keeping clear and accurate records of statutory documents such as assessments and care plans.The Council will remind relevant adult social care staff to ensure care and support plans are reviewed in line with the timelines set out in legislation and when an appropriate request is made.The Council will remind staff members who handle complaints of the differences between the adult social care and corporate complaint policies and their responsibility within each.

  • London Borough of Croydon (22 000 285)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 06-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mr B complained the Council failed to act on antisocial behaviour and noise nuisance from his neighbour and delayed responding to his complaint. There is no evidence the Council properly investigated concerns Mr B raised in 2022 or that it considered the community trigger process and told Mr B about it. The Council delayed responding to the complaint. An apology, payment to Mr B, investigation of Mr B’s concerns and training for officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide a training session to officers dealing with antisocial behaviour so they are aware of the steps they need to take to investigate when concerns are raised. That training should also cover the community trigger process and when that process should be discussed with those who have raised concerns;The Council will ensure the community trigger process is properly publicised on its website in a way that ensures those that do not know about it can still find the information about it.

  • London Borough of Croydon (22 000 240)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 21-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complains the Council failed to take sufficient action to deal with flytipping, anti social behaviour and drainage issues on an alleyway. The Council is at fault as it delayed in establishing its responsibility for the alleyway. This caused avoidable time and trouble to Ms X which the Council has agreed to remedy by apologising and making a payment of £150 to her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will clarify the nature of its responsibility for the alleyway and ensure it has a clear record of this responsibility to avoid future confusion as to its responsibilities.

  • London Borough of Croydon (22 000 071)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the outcome of a reassessment of her care and support needs. On the evidence seen so far, we have found the Council to be at fault because it did not properly consider her need for care at night, did not involve her properly in the assessment and fettered its discretion. She suffered avoidable distress, uncertainty and possible risk of harm. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to her, carry out a reassessment and take action to improve its practices.

    Service improvements

    The Counci will remind staff of the importance of continuing to ensure the adult's care needs are being met when their care plan is under review, particularly if they are without adequate care during a period of dispute.The Council will remind staff of the needs to involve service users when it proposes to make significant adjustments to their care support.The Council will remind staff of its duty to clearly set out how a person's eligible care needs will be met, particularly where it proposes to reduce someone's care hours.The Council will take action to ensure staff do not fetter their discretion when making support planning decisions.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 018 626)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council did not properly consider her request for a personal budget to provide education for her son, Mr Y and failed to implement the provision set out in his Education, Health and Care plan between November 2021 and July 2022. There was no fault in the Council’s decision not to provide a personal budget for direct payments. However, the Council failed to provide most of the special educational provision for Mr Y. The Council agreed to pay Mr Y £2800 to recognise the education he missed, reimburse the costs Ms X accrued in arranging some of Mr Y’s provision and pay her £500 to recognise the time and trouble caused to her by the Council’s fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes for commissioning or arranging occupational therapy provision to ensure it can access assessment and therapy services when children and young people require it.The Council will review how it assures itself that providers it commissions to deliver specialist provisions can meet the educational provision specified in children and young people’s Education, Health and Care Plans.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 018 504)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 26-Sep-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council destroyed his car which he had left in a car park. The Council was at fault. It did not comply with the notice period in line with guidance before it decided to destroy his car. Furthermore, the Council’s notice letter it sent to Mr X lacked information. The Council has agreed it will apologise to Mr X and pay him £300 to acknowledge the frustration and uncertainty caused by the matter. The Council will remind staff to wait for a notice period to lapse before it disposes of a vehicle it has seized. The Council will also revise its notice letter.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff when an owner of an abandoned vehicle has been located and the Council has contacted the owner, to wait for the full notice period to lapse before disposing of it.The Council will revise its notice letter it sends to owners of abandoned vehicles so it is clear what the notice period is and what action it intends on taking.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 017 036)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Ms X is a Council tenant. She complains the Council failed to consider whether her family’s living conditions meant she was homeless. Ms X complains the Council failed to respond to her requests to move to alternative accommodation due to significant disrepair and infestation issues. We have found the Council at fault. This caused Ms X distress and frustration. She missed out on the Council treating her requests to move as a homelessness application and a transfer request under its housing allocations scheme. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X, make her a payment and process her move request now. It has also agreed to make several service improvements.

    Service improvements

    the Council has agreed to:review its guidance to staff on handling complaints where the complainant is accessing the legal protocol for housing disrepair claims. The Council should make sure it is clear to staff when complaints about homelessness applications and housing register applications, including requests by Council tenants to move to different accommodation, should be treated as separable from the legal protocolthe Council has agreed to:circulate a reminder to relevant staff that requests by Council tenants to transfer to different accommodation should be forwarded to its Housing Register and Advice Team. This should include details of the circumstances when such a request should be promptly forwarded to its Housing Register and Advice Team for a decision on whether it qualifies as an “essential decant request” under the Council’s housing allocations schemethe Council has agreed to:share this decision with relevant staff members.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 016 602)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 11-Sep-2022

    Summary

    The Council failed to ensure the appropriate funding was approved for Mrs X when she was discharged from hospital. It ordered the recommended equipment for her but could not explain why some of it was not delivered. The Council’s response to Ms B’s complaint was inadequate. The Council agrees to apologise to Mrs X, reimburse the amount of funding it failed to secure for her, and pay a sum which recognises the distress caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its complaints handling and provide training if necessary.The Council will review its equipment ordering audit.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 016 241)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Sep-2022

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for delaying in putting in place a package of care and for failing to consider whether Mr X had the appropriate support through the care assessment. This meant Mr X had to wait longer than necessary to receive a package of care and cannot be sure the Council adequately considered his needs. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment to Mr X and review his care plan.

    Service improvements

    Review Mr X’s care plan to ensure he is receiving the correct amount of care.

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