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 1 - 4 of 4 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 (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 (21 014 243)

    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).

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