Service improvements

London Borough of Lambeth

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 11 - 17 of 17 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 013 200)

    Category: Housing Date: 07-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss D complained the Council failed to review the suitability of her temporary accommodation. Based on current evidence I consider the Council is at fault. It failed to refer the case to its Review Team for over 12 months and then delayed progressing the suitability assessment. This caused Miss D avoidable distress and a lost opportunity to have a suitability assessment completed. I have asked the Council to pay Miss D financial redress and to explain how it will improve its service.

    Service improvements

    set out action taken to improve delays in the Review Team

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 011 977)

    Category: Housing Date: 01-Jul-2025

    Summary

    We found fault by the Council on Miss Z’s complaint about it failing to transfer her to alternative accommodation after deciding it was unsuitable in March 2023. The Council failed to move her from the property, show a record of its decision about unsuitability at the time it made it, send her a copy of the decision, or act to address the causes of its concerns while she remained in it. These failures caused avoidable injustice. She remained in an unsuitable property which did not meet their needs. The Council agreed to send her a written apology, pay £4,050 for the time she spent in unsuitable accommodation, pay £150 a month until she is moved, find her alternative accommodation, review what happened, and remind officers of the need to tell tenants about decisions when made.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review why the complainant was allowed to remain in accommodation it had already decided was unsuitable, with no additional help from the Council to find suitable accommodation, and take steps to ensure this cannot be repeated on other cases.The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to inform tenants about unsuitability decisions at the time they are made.The Council agreed to ensure tenants who remain in their temporary accommodation understand the legal position of their accommodation after a decision to end the housing duty has been made

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 011 190)

    Category: Housing Date: 21-May-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council did not deal properly with nhis homelessness application, causing delay. The Council did not properly process his homelessness application in 2023, delayed dealing with his application in 2024 and delayed its complaint responses. Mr X suffered avoidable delay and distress, in addition to lost appeal rights in 2023. The Council should apologise, pay Mr X £500 for avoidable distress, pay Mr X £1,300 in respect of delays to dealing with his homelessness application and provide guidance to staff.

    Service improvements

    • Provide guidance to staff to ensure:a) Correspondence with applicants is properly sent and recorded.b) Homelessness applications are dealt with in a timely manner.c) Enquiries regarding crime reference numbers are made to all relevant police forces.d) Full and proper consideration is given to each applicant in relation to their eligibility for interim accommodation.e) Complaint responses are sent within the relevant timescales, or interim responses are sent clearly explaining why it is not possible to reply fully in the proper timeframe.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 009 675)

    Category: Housing Date: 05-May-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. She said the Council’s actions meant she and her family remained in unsuitable housing conditions for too long. Ms X says this negatively impacted hers and her family’s mental and physical health. The Council is at fault and has agreed to provide Ms X with an apology and a financial remedy, and to carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    Provide a written briefing to officers in its homelessness team regarding the importance of retaining accurate records of the actions/decisions taken by the Council regarding homelessness applications.Remind officers of the Council’s duty to make inquiries into what, if any, duties it owes someone contacting the council who gives a reason to believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days.Remind staff of the Council’s duty to secure interim accommodation for an applicant whilst it carries out an assessment if there is reason to believe they may be eligible, homeless and in priority need.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 008 427)

    Category: Housing Date: 21-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained that the Council did not deal properly with her homelessness application. The Council delayed providing temporary accommodation, did not complete a suitability review, did not provide suitable accommodation and did not provide a proper complaint response. Miss X suffered delay and uncertainty. The Council should apologise to Miss X, pay Miss X £1750, review its processes and provide guidance to staff.

    Service improvements

    Review its processes to establish why Miss X was not provided with continuing interim accommodation up to 13 May, and provide an action plan identifying any necessary changes to ensure there is no repetition of these circumstances.Provide guidance to staff to ensure that homelessness applicants who the Council accepts a duty to provide interim accommodation for, are in receipt of a placement in such accommodation.Provide an action plan showing how all outstanding statutory reviews will be completed within maximum timescales.Provide guidance to staff to ensure that statutory reviews are completed within the maximum timescales.Provide guidance to staff to provide full and relevant complaint responses.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 006 914)

    Category: Housing Date: 05-May-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for failing to provide Ms X with accurate advice and information about her housing options when she had to leave her home because of a risk of violence. The Council also failed to issue a homelessness decision giving Ms X a right of review and took too long to deal with her complaints. Ms X experienced significant and avoidable distress and uncertainty as a result. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to share a copy of this decision with staff in homelessness, allocations, andtenancy management to identify the learning from this complaint.The Council has agreed to produce a protocol for joint working and information sharing among housing allocations, homelessness, and tenancy management, including what should happen when an existing tenant needs to leave their home or the borough. It will provide training to all relevant staff on the agreed procedures and include the protocol in any induction or training of new staff.The Council has agreed to review the factsheet previously produced for secure tenants who need to leavetheir homes due to risk of violence and update it as required. It will share this withstaff in homelessness, allocations, tenancy management and with any other relevantstakeholders, such as housing associations and tenancy managementorganisations. It will ensure the factsheet is accessible to the staff who need it andconsider publishing it on the Council’s website or otherwise publicising it totenants.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (24 003 541)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Apr-2025

    Summary

    We have found the Council at fault for how it handled Miss X’s homelessness case and her request to be referred to another council. This caused Miss X avoidable distress and uncertainty and left her and her child in unsuitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to remedy Miss X’s injustice with an apology, symbolic payment and a backdated position on a transfer waiting list.

    Service improvements

    Demonstrate how, in the future, it will progress homelessness applications including better communication and timeliness of decisions.Demonstrate how in the future, it will keep the suitability of interim and temporary accommodation under review.

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