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 21 - 29 of 29 cases with service improvements

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  • London Borough of Croydon (21 015 894)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 09-May-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council unfairly added enforcement agent fees for council tax arrears when it knew he had changed address. The Council has agreed to remove the agent’s visit charges.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers they should consider placing a hold on accounts with enforcement agents when customers advise they have not received recovery notices.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 015 643)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 08-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains that the Council is unfairly refusing to allow him to pay his Council Tax bill for 2021/22 over a longer period of time. The Council is at fault as it delayed in issuing Mr X’s Council Tax bill which denied him the opportunity to pay his Council Tax over a longer period of time and with lower instalments. It is also at fault for failing to give proper consideration to offering an affordable payment plan to Mr X in accordance with Government guidance. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment of £150 to acknowledge the distress caused to him. It has also agreed to arrange an affordable repayment plan with Mr X.

    Service improvements

    By training or other means, reminds officers of the provisions of the Government guidance on collection of Council Tax arrears to ensure they are willing to negotiate payments at any time in the process and work with bill payers to agree an affordable and sustainable payment plan to be paid within a reasonable timeframe.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 015 640)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 28-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to tell bailiffs that he had cleared his council tax liability. This resulted in an unnecessary call and visit by bailiffs. We found there was fault by the Council that warrants and apology and a payment to Mr X.

    Service improvements

    Review why officers did not communicate Mr X’s contact and revised liability with enforcement agents and why officers did not make clear to Mr X that he would need to pay a £75 fee to bailiffs separately to clearing the revised council tax liability. The Council should carry out any appropriate training or policy updates that are required to ensure appropriate communication with the public and enforcement agents in such circumstances in future.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 015 440)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 08-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Mr D complained the Council wrongly kept his visitation restrictions in place for a care home where his friend lives. He said this caused him distress. We found the Council at fault as its policy did not set clear standards for when Mr D’s restrictions would be reviewed and how he would be informed. However, as it found his behaviour continued to breach its policy, the outcome would have been the same. Mr D did therefore not experience an injustice as a result of the Council’s fault. The Council should review its policy to prevent any potential future injustice to other visitors with restricted access.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure the Care Home reviews its Visitor Policy to include how it will review any procedures in place, which restricts visitors contact with service users in the Care Home. This includes how often reviews will take place and how it notified the persons affected of its decisions.The Council will ensure the Care Home reminds its staff of the requirement to review procedures for restricting visitor’s contact with service users of the Care Home as set out in its Visitor’s Policy.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 014 243)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 05-Jun-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s actions undertaken to recover her Council Tax. She said she was unfairly charged recovery fees as, although with delay, she paid all her Council Tax instalments in the months they were due. We find fault in the way the Council carried out the Council Tax recovery. The Council accepted our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused to Ms X.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its customer telephone service to identify whether the service is appropriately staffed. If the review identifies the service is not appropriately staffed, and it is preventing residents from being able to contact the Council through the telephone, the Council will decide on an action plan to improve the service to ensure residents can contact the Council through the phone. The Council will outline the actions to take and the timescales for implementation. The Council will provide the Ombudsman with a copy of its review and action plan (if relevant).

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 013 484)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 19-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Mr B says the Council wrongly removed and scrapped his vehicle when it was not abandoned. The Council was not at fault for removing the vehicle. However, the Council failed to follow its policy before destroying it. An apology to Mr B, payment to reflect the value of the vehicle and to address the inconvenience he was put to, along with a reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a copy of the Ombudsman’s final decision in this case to officers dealing with abandoned vehicles so they are aware of the process required when a vehicle is removed from the highway.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 009 192)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 09-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complains about several care providers’ failure to provide care for her late mother, Mrs X. She says she will not pay the care contributions the Council is seeking as it has not provided evidence of care. We found fault by the Council and recommended a remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind care providers that it contracts, that they should ensure they note the times attended and the care provided. The Council could consider advising care providers to use electronic call logging to evidence the times attended.

  • London Borough of Croydon (21 008 868)

    Category: Housing Date: 06-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Ms Y complained the Council placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation, which was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council was at fault. It was also at fault for not proactively assisting Ms Y to find accommodation between July 2020 and February 2021, and not telling her it had cancelled her housing register application when it discharged its homelessness duty in March 2021. It will apologise, make changes to its processes, and pay Ms Y £2,800 to remedy the unsuitable accommodation.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its policy and processes in relation to the provision of bed and breakfast accommodation to families and pregnant applicants to ensure its approach is in line with the law, and provide guidance to relevant staff.The Council will compolete the devlopment of its Temporary and Emergency Accommodation Strategy and report to us on progress made in increasing the supply of temporary accommodation, particularly for families who would otherwise be in bed and breakfast accommodation.The Council will rveiew its complaints process to ensure that a manger is responsible for ensuring a complaint reponse is sent where input is needed from more than one team, and that reqests for legal or other advice are followed up to ensure that complaint responses are issued within the timescales set out in its complaints policy.

  • London Borough of Croydon (20 005 011)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Sep-2022

    Summary

    We found fault with the Council for failing to put in place all the provision in Y’s Education, Health and Care plan. We also found fault with the annual review process, record keeping and complaint handling. This caused Y an injustice because they missed out on provision they should have received. The Council agreed actions to remedy the injustice.

    Service improvements

    • Review its personal budget policy and provide the Ombudsman with evidence of how it will avoid the delays and issues identified in this case.• Review its monitoring arrangements for EHCP provision that is provided by schools. It should be able to demonstrate how it has used the learning from this case to improve its practice in this area to ensure accurate record keeping and audit trails.

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