Service improvements

London Borough of Enfield

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 - 7 of 7 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

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

  • London Borough of Enfield (25 008 870)

    Category: Housing Date: 25-Mar-2026

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council. It failed to process her homelessness application; it did not properly consider its duties; nor communicate with Miss X clearly and in good time. The Council’s shortcomings caused Miss X distress, frustration and uncertainty. It should apologise to her, make a symbolic payment, and remind staff of the expectations of government guidance.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remindrelevant staff, by way of a briefing note or training session, of Chapter 6of the Homelessness Code of Guidance and:a) to properly consider whether it is reasonable to expect an applicantto stay in a property when a section 21 notice has expired and possessionproceedings are in progress, and its relief duty and to keep a note of how itreached its decision;b) to keep in contact with applicants while possession proceedings areongoing so it can review its decision on whether it is reasonable for them toremain in the property; and c) to keep records of contacts with applicants and its decision making.

  • London Borough of Enfield (25 004 341)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Sep-2025

    Summary

    We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of her homelessness application. This is because the Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, pay her £300 and progress her current homelessness application without further delay. Therefore, an investigation by us would not be proportionate.

    Service improvements

    Ensure, by a staff briefing, staff training or changing procedures, that all applicants who meet the threshold for homelessness inquiries receive written decisions including their review rights

  • London Borough of Enfield (24 017 008)

    Category: Housing Date: 22-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s decision in response to his suitability review request and the Council’s failure to offer a proper remedy. We found fault with the way the Council reviewed the suitability of Mr X’s accommodation. This fault caused injustice to Mr X which lasted for a few months and was more significant because of Mr X’s individual circumstances. The Council agreed to apologise, complete the remedy it has already offered to Mr X and make an additional distress payment.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the way it records temporary accommodation suitability reviews to ensure all requests are responded to. The Council will provide the evidence that this has happened.

  • London Borough of Enfield (24 016 501)

    Category: Housing Date: 02-Nov-2025

    Summary

    The Council failed to provide Miss X homelessness accommodation when it should have done and when it did house Miss X, the accommodation was unsuitable. This meant Miss X accrued debt she should not have and has remained in accommodation which does not meet her needs as a Disabled person. Other fault by the Council caused Miss X avoidable frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise to Miss X, make a symbolic payment and take action to prevent similar fault in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff they must consider all the relevant evidence about a person's needs before placing them in interim and temporary homelessness accommodation, to ensure that accommodation is suitable at the point the offer of accommodation is made.The Council will share a copy of the Ombudsman's guidance Homelessness decisions for Disabled people with relevant staff, if it has not already done so.The Council will send the Ombudsman details of the steps it is taking to increase its stock of interim and temporary accommodation, to meet the increased demand for homelessness housing. The Council will include when it intends to complete the steps and how it will review their effectiveness.The Council will tell staff who deal with housing register allocations that before they suspend a person's right to bid on social housing, they should consider whether a suspension is appropriate in that case. The Council will include the complainant's case as an example of when a suspension is not appropriate.

  • London Borough of Enfield (24 008 846)

    Category: Housing Date: 12-Aug-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for failing to make inquiries when Miss X gave it reason to believe she might be homeless. The Council was also at fault for telling Miss X to approach a different Council, inadequate record keeping and refusing to deal with Miss X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise, investigate Miss X’s case, make a payment to her and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to relevant staff on the duty to make inquiries when an applicant gives reason to believe they might to be homeless or threatened with homelessness regardless of questions about local connection or duties owed by another council.The Council has agreed to provide provide training or guidance to relevant staff on the minimum expectations for record keeping and communication with applicants in homeless applications.

  • London Borough of Enfield (24 006 620)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to deal with her complaint about the suitability of temporary accommodation including failing to advise her of her right to submit a suitability review request. She also complained the Council failed to protect her belongings and says this all caused distress. There was fault in the Council’s failure to advise Miss X of her review rights. It should now offer a suitability review and make a payment for the distress.

    Service improvements

    Remind officers of the importance of ensuring the correct decision letters are sent to ensure all rights of review and appeal are notified.

  • London Borough of Enfield (23 011 272)

    Category: Housing Date: 03-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her housing. We found fault because the Council failed to consider aspects of Miss X’s case in a timely or adequate manner. It also failed to investigate her complaints within the timeframe it should. This caused Miss X avoidable distress and uncertainty. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Miss X, and issue reminders and share guidance with relevant officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of the need to specify how medical information related to housing matters should be shared with it. This will help to ensure service users can do so in a timely and effective manner.The Council will remind relevant officers and managers to comply with their responsibilities under relevant homelessness guidance and legislation. This will help to ensure it fully considers the circumstances of those threatened with homelessness and whether a property is reasonable to occupy.The Council will share the Ombudsman's guidance on the principles of good administrative practice with relevant officers and managers. This will help to ensure that communication and complaint handling are done in a timely and effective manner.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings