London Borough of Haringey
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 264 complaints. Of these, 131 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 72 complaints. We investigated 61 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 61 complaints and upheld 53.
87% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 84% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Haringey's population, this is 20.2 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
9.1 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 7 out of 53 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
13% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 12% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 45 cases.
In 45 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against London Borough of Haringey
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Councillor’s decision to put brakes on housing development flawed, says Ombudsman
A Haringey man was left in limbo for six years while the council decided whether to buy his house and develop the land around it, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman heard.
Family of disabled boy left without housing adaptations because of council delay
Haringey council took so long to complete adaptations to a disabled boy’s home that he had outgrown the proposals, a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has heard.
Homeless Haringey family left in bed and breakfast accommodation because of council errors
A Haringey mother of six has been living in bed and breakfast accommodation since February 2020 because her local council did not do enough to prevent her from becoming homeless, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Young family left homeless by Haringey benefits blunder
A young family, including a disabled child, had to leave their home following a miscalculation of their housing benefits by London Borough of Haringey, reports the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Haringey and Islington councils criticised for how they recovered business rate debts
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised two London councils for the way they tried to recover historic business rate debts.
Homeless family left in damp and cockroach-infested properties by London council
London Borough of Haringey did not deal properly with disrepair issues at the two properties where it placed a homeless family, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found.
Family housed in London tower block had no cold water
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised a London council after it placed a young homeless family in a tower block with no cold water and a lift that only worked infrequently.
Haringey family re-housed thanks to Ombudsman investigation
A disabled Haringey woman and her family have been re-housed after a Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigation ensured that a council put right errors it had made processing her housing application.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
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.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 24 017 577
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- Provide evidence of the reduced backlog regarding the number of requests for reviews.
Case reference: 24 014 544
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- o Implement service improvements to ensure staff are reminded not only:· that conducting an assessment is a legal obligation, not a matter ofdiscretion; and
- ensure staff are reminded not only: of the requirement to issue decisions that clearly outline statutory review rights, even in cases where there is no change to the applicant’s banding.
Case reference: 24 002 836
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants
- The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in the relevant departments to identify learning from this complaint.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that council tenants can apply for a DFG and that the Council’s policy is to use the same process for all adaptations, regardless of tenure. This means the Council must approve works if the legal tests are met.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the tests of “necessary, appropriate, reasonable and practicable” apply to each adaptation separately and provide training or guidance as needed.
- The Council has agreed to ensure the Council keeps any warning flags, such as “potentially violent”, under regular review and updates all relevant departments where this flag is removed or changed.
Case reference: 24 002 112
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to provide evidence to show that it has changed its procedures and it now automatically informs homelessness applicants of their right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation when it accepts the main housing duty.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers of the following: The medical and mobility sections of the personalised housing plan must be completed, and this information must be considered when determining the type of interim accommodation which will be suitable for the applicant.The Council has a continuing duty to keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where there has been a change in circumstances, officers must properly consider whether the accommodation remains suitable.Where a homelessness applicant says they are at risk of domestic abuse in their accommodation, the Council must carry out a risk assessment to ensure they support the applicant appropriately.The importance of providing timely responses to incoming emails.The types of complaints which should be referred to the Housing Ombudsman.
- The Council has agreed to review its plan for reducing the length of time families with children and pregnant household members are staying in B & B accommodation, and for promptly moving homelessness applicants to suitable accommodation.
- The Council has agreed to ensure housing application decision letters are created and sent on a more regular basis, to ensure applicants receive login details within eight weeks of their application.
- The Council has agreed to investigate why a property inspection did not take place, and take action to ensure inspection requests are appropriately actioned in future.
Case reference: 24 012 725
Category: Transport and highways
Sub Category: Parking and other penalties
- The Council will remind officers that they can always correspond about a Penalty Charge Notice at any stage and there is discretion to cancel a Penalty Charge Notice, where appropriate.
Case reference: 24 009 764
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour
- the Council has agreed to circulate guidance to relevant staff, to highlight that officers do not need to witness a nuisance in person to substantiate that it amounts to a statutory nuisance; and
- review and amending its published ASB case review criteria to ensure it is adherent to the law, and circulate a notice to relevant staff to highlight this change.
Case reference: 24 008 874
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Domiciliary care
- The Council will review its record keeping to ensure it consistently records all Mental Capacity assessments carried out for people for whom the Council provides care services.
- The Council will ensure there is a clear process in place when a person for whom the Council provides care services lacks mental capacity and has nobody to take decisions about their welfare or finances. All social workers and their managers will be trained in this process.
Case reference: 24 006 609
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling.
Case reference: 24 006 498
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council was at fault for delay in chasing up the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) response to its application to become the financial appointee; for failing to act when it became aware there were isues with the application; and for poor communication with the previous financial representative.The Council will explore why such significant periods of time elapsed before it chased the DWP for a response to its application to become responsible for the benefits payments. It will also explore why it failed to identify and act on the issues with its application to the DWP. The Council will identify what steps it needs to take to prevent similar fault in future and send the Ombudsman an action plan setting out what those steps are and when it will complete them by.
Case reference: 24 005 438
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council was at fault for not completing a review of its decision on a housing allocations banding. The Council will remind relevant staff to keep people informed where it is likely to, or has, missed a deadline it has set for itself to complete an action as a result of a complaint.
- The Council identified other people who have also been affected by the delay in completing council housing allocation review requests. The Council will provide the Ombudsman with an update on its progress clearing the backlog of the review requests.
Last updated: 4 April 2015