London Borough of Islington (22 000 225)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 15-Aug-2022

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to advise her to claim Universal Credit. Instead, she pursued a claim for housing benefit, to which she is not entitled, and now has rent arrears. We found there was fault by the Council. It has agreed an increased remedy.

London Borough of Islington (22 001 218)

Statement Upheld Antisocial behaviour 04-Sep-2022

Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council responded to her reports of ongoing anti-social noise. The Council was not at fault in how it decided the noise was not anti-social. However, it was at fault for poor communication with Ms X. The Council will apologise and remind its staff they should promptly communicate the decision to close anti-social behaviour investigations to the complainant.

London Borough of Islington (21 017 685)

Statement Upheld Safeguarding 11-Sep-2022

Summary: Mrs X complains on behalf of her deceased aunt about the Council’s safeguarding investigation. She says this had a significant impact on her mental health and has caused the family trauma. We find the Council at fault, and this fault caused Mrs X injustice. The Council will apologise to Mrs X, make a payment to her, and make improvements to its service to prevent this happening in future.

London Borough of Islington (21 018 497)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 02-Oct-2022

Summary: Ms X complains the Council was delayed in issuing its decision letter regarding her application for homelessness. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault by the Council. The Council was delayed in issuing its decision to Ms X. Ms X had the Council’s decision overturned and was successfully placed into permanent accommodation shortly after. As a result of the Council’s delays, Ms X remained in temporary accommodation that was not suitable for her. The Council has agreed to the recommendation we proposed.

London Borough of Islington (22 010 622)

Statement Upheld Council tax support 08-Dec-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not respond to an email. This is because the Council has provided a fair remedy.

London Borough of Islington (22 003 446)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 05-Jan-2023

Summary: Ms X complains about how the Council handled her homelessness and housing applications when she fled domestic abuse. Ms X complains the Councils actions caused further distress and uncertainty. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for how it communicated with Ms X about her applications. The Ombudsman also finds fault with the Council for how it communicated about personal data, medical assessments and for the Councils complaint handling. The Council has agreed to pay a financial remedy and make The service improvements.

London Borough of Islington (22 002 468)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 31-Jan-2023

Summary: There was fault by the Council. The Council delayed responding to an official complaint and has remedied this by making a payment to the complainant. There was also disrepair in the temporary accommodation offered and the Council has also made a payment to the complainant to remedy this injustice. There was no fault in the time it took to find the complainant permanent housing after fleeing violence or in its payment of Council tax support.

London Borough of Islington (22 002 539)

Statement Upheld Allocations 16-Feb-2023

Summary: Miss Y complained about the way the Council dealt with its offer of, and her move to, permanent accommodation. We have found fault by the Council in failing to promptly assess Miss Y’s need for care and support and Occupational Therapy and make safeguarding enquiries, consider reasonable adjustments, provide Occupational Therapy support with the final accommodation offer, consider her request for support with her move, respond properly to her concerns about the accommodation after she moved, respond to her review request and the delays in its complaint handling. We have also found fault by the Council in failing to consider the impact on Miss Y’s human rights. These faults caused Miss Y injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this by apologising to Miss Y, making a payment to reflect her upset, time and trouble, providing us with an update on her accommodation and making service improvements.

London Borough of Islington (22 009 383)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 24-Feb-2023

Summary: The Council accepted there were failings in the way it handled Miss X’s homelessness application when she sought assistance after fleeing domestic abuse. It will pay her £3,900 for the distress caused and an additional £150 for a delay in responding to her complaint. It will also make changes to its processes.

London Borough of Islington (22 003 113)

Statement Upheld Residential care 27-Feb-2023

Summary: Miss C complained about the service provided to her mother Mrs D by the Council’s adult social care team. We uphold two parts of the complaint. First, that there is an ongoing service failure by the Council, because it cannot secure a residential care home placement for Mrs D in its area. Second, we find there have been some failings in the personal care Mrs D has received while living in a care home out of Borough. The Council accepts these findings. At the end of this statement, we explain what action the Council has agreed to take to remedy the injustice caused by these faults.