Advice on comparing statistics across years

In 2022-23 we changed our investigation processes, contributing towards an increase in the average uphold rate across all complaints. Consider comparing individual council uphold rates against the average rate rather than against previous years.

In 2020-21 we received and decided fewer complaints than normal because we stopped accepting new complaints for three months due to Covid-19.

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

  • 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.

    Adjusted 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.

    View upheld decisions
  • 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.

  • 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.

View annual letters

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised two London councils for the way they tried to recover historic business rate debts.

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.

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.

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.

8

Reports for London Borough of Haringey

View all

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: 24 012 725

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.

Case reference: 24 003 972

Category: Housing

Sub Category: Homelessness

  • The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to relevant staff on making decisions about medicalpriority and housing needs resulting from medical conditions, using thisdecision as an example and with reference to LGSCO's guidefor practitoners.
  • The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council has discretion to address overcrowdingas well as risk when approving a management transfer and ensure records showthe Council has considered whether to exercise this discretion.
  • The Council has agreed to amend the decision review process for management transfer applications toensure the Council tells applicants about their statutory review rights, as setout in the Housing Act 1996.

Case reference: 24 003 176

Category: Adult care services

Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

  • The Council will issue a reminder to relevant staff of the importance of reviewing care plans in line with the Care Act 2014 and particularly when someone’s needs may be changing rapidly.
  • The Council will review its procedures to ensure care plan review requests are correctly monitored.
  • The Council will review its guidance to care providers about how to respond to changing care needs and how to initiate reviews of care plans as necessary.
  • The Council will review its procedures to ensure that carers assessments are completed in accordance with the statutory guidance.

Case reference: 24 001 174

Category: Education

Sub Category: Alternative provision

  • Remind staff of the Council’s responsibility to objectively consider the suitability of education arranged by a school for a child who cannot attend because of health problems.
  • Remind staff of the Council’s duty to carry out annual reviews within 12 months of the issue of final Education, Health and Care Plans.
  • Remind staff of the Council’s duty to ensure a child or young person with an Education, Health and Care Plan receives the special educational provision as set out in the plan.
  • Remind staff to adhere to the council’s complaints procedure

Case reference: 24 000 058

Category: Housing

Sub Category: Allocations

  • •Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling.

113

Cases with service improvements agreed by London Borough of Haringey

View all

Last updated: 4 April 2015

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