Service improvements

London Borough of Lambeth

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 21 - 24 of 24 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 (23 010 082)

    Category: Housing Date: 07-Apr-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to provide suitable temporary accommodation when she became homeless. We found the Council to be at fault. It took long to carry out a suitability review and a result Miss X lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than she should. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to remedy the injustice to Miss X.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any areas of service improvement, particularly in respect of suitability review delays and poor communication. The Council should prepare a short report setting out what the Council intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (23 010 032)

    Category: Housing Date: 14-Aug-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s delays and failure to provide her with assistance to help her resolve her homelessness. The Council was at fault for failing to provide appropriate advice and assistance and for poor communication with Ms X, for not issuing decision letters or referring her to its private lettings teams and for not proactively supporting Ms X to address her housing situation. This caused Ms X uncertainty and frustration. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X and provide staff training/guidance.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide advice, guidance or training to staff to ensure they:properly explain the consequences of staying with friends/relatives to prevent homelessness and to get a higher banding, and the likely timescales involved in securing social housing in band B; issue homelessness decision letters promptly setting out the duty owed and review rights; andknow what information is required for a referral to its private lettings scheme and this is communicated effectively to applicants.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (23 008 937)

    Category: Housing Date: 14-Oct-2024

    Summary

    We found serious failings in the way the Council considered Miss X’s needs as a vulnerable homeless person with children. It failed to arrange suitable accommodation for the family who have complex needs due to their disabilities. This continues to cause significant injustice to Miss X and her children. The Council has agreed remedies for Miss X and her children along with service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to send a written briefing to all staff in the Housing Needs service reminding them of the legal duty to make an accurate and comprehensive record of the housing and support needs of the applicant and members of their household and to keep PHPs under review.The Council has agreed to review its procedures for acting on reports of disrepair in interim/temporary accommodation to ensure property inspections are arranged promptly.The Council has agreed to share a copy of our final decision statement with the Housing Improvement Board.The Council has agreed to identify what further steps it can take to reduce the time it takes to process statutory and non-statutory review requests and include this in the Housing Needs Improvement Plan.

  • London Borough of Lambeth (23 001 390)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Miss B complained that the Council placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation, failed to carry out a review of the suitability of that accommodation and placed her in the wrong priority band to allow her to bid for more suitable accommodation. We have found fault with the Council’s actions. The Council has agreed to find suitable alternative accommodation for Miss B, pay her £4,200 now and a further £350 for every month she remains in unsuitable accommodation. It will also provide an update on progress with the Improvement Plan and any other actions taken to improve the supply of temporary accommodation.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide a report of progress with the Improvement Plan and evidence of ongoing scrutiny by the relevant scrutiny committee or cabinet member.The Council has agreed to provide details of any other action it has taken to improve the available supply of temporary accommodation.

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