Service improvements

London Borough of Hackney

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 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 - 10 of 18 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Hackney (25 013 337)

    Category: Housing Date: 20-Mar-2026

    Summary

    We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in issuing its section 202 review decision. The Council has now made its decision and has agreed to apologise for the delay. Further investigation by us is therefore not proportionate.

    Service improvements

    To remind staff to complete section 202 review requests within the statutory timeframe

  • London Borough of Hackney (25 004 156)

    Category: Housing Date: 13-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s actions after she told it she was a victim of domestic abuse. We find the Council at fault in its handling of her initial approach, including its treatment of her at its offices, its failure to complete a Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Based Violence risk assessment, and its failure to provide interim accommodation without delay. We also find fault in the Council’s delay in accepting the relief and main housing duties, its failure to properly consider the suitability of the interim accommodation and unsafe areas, its failure to inform Ms X of her right to request a suitability review, and its poor complaint handling. These faults caused Ms X avoidable distress and uncertainty, placed her at risk of harm by requiring her to return to the property where the alleged abuse occurred, led to a loss of statutory review rights, and caused her unnecessary time and trouble in pursuing her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X, and take action to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agree to remind housing staff of:the low threshold for providing interim accommodation;the requirement to complete Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Based Violence assessments where domestic abuse is disclosed; andthe need to advise applicants of review rights when accepting the main housing duty.

  • London Borough of Hackney (25 000 302)

    Category: Housing Date: 26-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council did not fully consider her concerns about the safety of her accommodation in relation to her daughter’s health and care needs. She complained the Council failed to rehouse her family despite her concerns about the risk of harm to her daughter. Miss X says the Council’s actions caused her severe emotional distress and negatively impacted her daughter’s wellbeing. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to make service improvements and provide Miss X with an apology and a financial remedy.

    Service improvements

    Provide guidance to staff to ensure they respond to service users’ queries in a timely mannerProvide guidance to staff to ensure they are aware of and understand the principles of good administrative practice as published by the Ombudsman, specifically the need to keep appropriate records and to provide a clear rational for decisions.

  • London Borough of Hackney (24 020 131)

    Category: Housing Date: 28-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs D complains the Council placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation. I have found the Council at fault because it delayed carrying out a suitability review and Mrs D remains in unsuitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to pay redress and ensure Officers are following the correct process when considering suitability review requests.

    Service improvements

    ensure officers carry out suitability assessments to identify a homelessness applicant's medical needs before placing them in accommodationensure review officers adhere to procedures when checking a request for a suitability review and see if additional officer training is neededset out the actions taken to reduce the impact of unsuitable accommodation on applicants and take account of LGSCO guide for practitioners on unsuitable temporary accommodation

  • London Borough of Hackney (24 016 748)

    Category: Housing Date: 28-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to deal with her repeated reports of mice issues and of disrepair in her temporary accommodation. We found the Council at fault for delays, with shortcomings in the action it took, and it did not keep suitability under review. This caused significant distress, uncertainty and frustration to Miss X. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment, carry out a suitability review, and to take action to prevent recurrence of fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council should use this decision as a case study to review its processes of how it deals with persistent issues or recurrent disrepair reported by complainants. It should review ways of improving communication with its Managing Agent, how it monitors performance and sets reasonable timeframes for it to complete repairs, and at what point it should consider intervening, enforcing service level agreements or addressing disputes with the Managing Agent. It should share a copy of any steps, guidance document, or action plan it makes from this.

  • London Borough of Hackney (24 006 509)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homeless application. She also complained the Council wrongly asked her to submit a new housing register application and it did not help her get her bidding details. We find the Council was at fault for the way it handled Ms X’s homeless application. It was also at fault for failing to help Ms X get her bidding details and for its communication with her on why she had to submit a new housing register application. These faults caused her frustration. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to apologise to Ms X and implement a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to staff to relevant staff to ensure they must not pre-judge the outcome of a homeless application without first doing a proper assessment of the applicant’s circumstances.

  • London Borough of Hackney (24 003 544)

    Category: Housing Date: 06-Dec-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to provide appropriate support and assistance to deal with her homelessness. The Council was at fault when it failed to properly consider information Miss X provided about her relationship with her family, for not notifying Miss X it had decided she was not in priority need and for not ensuring she received its decision letters. There was no fault in the way it reached its decision Miss X’s altercation with a relative was not domestic abuse. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X to acknowledge her frustration and loss of appeal rights. It has also agreed to issue a reminder to officers to prevent a repeat of the faults.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers of the need to communicate in writing its decision that a homelessness applicant is not in priority need, either separately or as part of the relief duty letter, if it has reached a decision at that time.The Council will remind officers to confirm contact details and correspondence addresses with homelessness applicants to ensure decision letters are received in a timely manner.

  • London Borough of Hackney (24 001 064)

    Category: Housing Date: 28-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s decision that he was not entitled to priority on its housing register on medical grounds and delay. We found the Council to be at fault. There was significant delay processing his application, in part due to a cyber-attack. To remedy the injustice to Mr X, we recommend the Council should apologise and make a payment to acknowledge his frustration.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take action to ensure applicants are informed about expected waiting times and delay.

  • London Borough of Hackney (23 016 858)

    Category: Housing Date: 10-Oct-2024

    Summary

    The Council failed to provide Ms X with interim accommodation when she first tried to flee domestic abuse. Ms X also experienced several months without hot water in her hostel accommodation due to service failure. The Council was not at fault for the restrictions the hostel placed on visitors attending the accommodation. In recognition of the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £850 and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind homelessness staff of the importance of recording the advice it gives to homeless applicants when they approach as homeless, including details of accommodation offered to people fleeing domestic abuse.The Council will remind homelessness staff that interim accommodation offered to eligible homeless applicants must be suitable, meaning if a person is fleeing domestic abuse, they must be offered accommodation where they will not be put at risk, including making a booking into a hotel if needed.The Council will remind homelessness staff of the importance, as set out in the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities at 21.32, of being aware that the most crucial and dangerous period for victims of domestic abuse is when they first make plans to flee, and for officers to be aware of this when taking an initial homelessness application.

  • London Borough of Hackney (23 014 855)

    Category: Housing Date: 09-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X says the Council failed to move her to a suitable property despite accepting the current property is unsuitable for her family. The Council failed to consider the information Mrs X provided about the safety of the eldest child remaining in the property when awarding her banding. Consideration of whether Mrs X qualifies for emergency rehousing, payment to Mrs X and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a reminder to officers dealing with banding decisions about the need to consider the individual circumstances of each case where band A priority is requested.

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