Service improvements

London Borough of Hounslow

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

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

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 015 782)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Jul-2026

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council. It took too long to complete financial assessments so that Miss X was not clear how much her mother would need to pay towards her care charges before the care started. It did not give information or advice to Miss X about the process or the charges, and did not fully respond to her complaint about this. This caused Miss X distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise to Miss X, make a symbolic payment to recognise the impact on her, and remind staff that the care and support plan should include information about the financial assessment and a person’s contribution to their care charges.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind its staff that the Care Act requires the care and support plan to include a personal budget based on the financial assessment, and that this should set out the amount the person needs to pay towards those charges before the care starts. This should be by way of a staff briefing to all relevant staff.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 012 019)

    Category: Housing Date: 14-Jun-2026

    Summary

    We found fault on Miss Y’s complaint about the Council failing to reimburse the deposit and advance payment of rent it agreed to pay. It delayed progressing her request and delayed telling her what documents she still needed to send. Communication with her was poor and not always accurate. The Council agreed to apologise for the fault, make a symbolic payment, and review why the delays and poor communication happened.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review why the delays happened and take steps to ensure they cannot be repeated on future cases.The Council agreed to review why there was poor communication and take steps to ensure this cannot be repeated on future cases

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 010 148)

    Category: Housing Date: 13-May-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for the delay in carrying out homeless inquiries when informed Miss X’s property was no longer suitable to occupy. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to remedy the injustice caused to Miss X. It has also agreed to create an action plan to prevent similar fault occurring in the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to create an action plan to show how it will identify potential homelessness cases regardless of point of contact within the Council and put in place monitoring to review the progress of this.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 008 284)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 09-Aug-2026

    Summary

    The Council failed to properly record a referral for a social care needs assessment, delayed carrying out a needs assessment, failed to prepare a care and support plan and failed to review whether the support offered was meeting Mr B’s eligible needs. These failings caused Mr B frustration and distress and left him with uncertainty about whether alternative support could have been identified to meet his assessed needs. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and complete a care and support plan with Mr B. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its processes and remind staff that care and support plans should be completed as required by the Care Act 2014.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 007 499)

    Category: Housing Date: 05-May-2026

    Summary

    Ms Z, on behalf of Mr X, complained the Council failed to provide him with adequate support as a care leaver when offering a housing association property he said he couldn’t afford and failed to offer him a council property despite the care leavers local offer stating it would. The local offer documentation contained misleading information and the claimed enhanced support was not provided causing Mr X to refuse a property and remain without permanent accommodation. To remedy the injustice the Council will review Mr X’s decision to refuse the property taking input from Mr X and his personal advisor.

    Service improvements

    Ensure the care leaver local offer information is correct.Review the process for offering care leavers permanent accommodation to ensure personal advisors are involved in the decision about what constitutes a suitable offer or introduce a right of appeal.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 007 112)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 27-May-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for overcharging Mr Z for his care and support and for failing to properly consider how much it had overcharged him by. This caused his representative, Ms X, confusion. However, the Council ultimately reimbursed Mr Z more than it had overcharged him by, so the fault did not cause him financial harm. The Council will apologise to Ms X and take action to prevent similar fault in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council will identify why it failed to update a service user's care fees appropriately when it became aware his care package had changed. The Council will consider what steps are necessary to prevent similar fault in future and will tell the Ombudsman when it will complete those steps by.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (25 006 252)

    Category: Housing Date: 19-May-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault in how it responded to Miss X’s homelessness. It delayed acting until Miss X was evicted and failed to consider what it should to do to protect her belongings. The faults caused Miss X avoidable upset, distress and uncertainty. To remedy Miss X’s injustice, the Council should apologise and make a symbolic payment. It should also take action to prevent similar fault in future. The Council was not at fault in how it decided what care and support Miss X needed.

    Service improvements

    The Council will amend its complaints policy to reflect that there is no right of review on the suitability of interim accommodation, and therefore, it should consider complaints about it through its complaints procedure. The Council will inform staff of the change.The Council will highlight the Ombudsman's focus report More Home Truths- learning lessons from complaints about the Homelessness Reduction Act with staff, and particularly the section titled Failings in prevention and relief duties, which addresses the issue with a 'wait for bailiffs' approach.The Council will remind staff that when a homeless applicant expresses a need or wish for support to protect their belongings, the Council must keep suitable records of its rationale for deciding whether it owes the applicant the duty to protect their belongings.

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