London Borough of Lambeth
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 309 complaints. Of these, 134 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 112 complaints. We investigated 63 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
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 63 complaints and upheld 58.
92% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 84% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Lambeth's population, this is 18.4 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
9.1 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 4 out of 58 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
7% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 12% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 46 cases.
In 46 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.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against London Borough of Lambeth
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.
Child left in pain for years because of council delays
A young person spent three years in unnecessary pain because delays by Lambeth council meant they could not have a crucial operation, a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has found.
Councils need to check how they help people with hidden disabilities
Councils are being urged to check their procedures to avoid disadvantaging people with ‘hidden disabilities’ following the publication of three separate investigation reports into London councils by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
More than 6,000 noise nuisance complaints not investigated by London council
Lambeth council has agreed to look into long-standing noise nuisance issues after officers admitted, during a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation, it had turned down more than 6,300 complaints.
Woman left in unsuitable temporary accommodation for too long by London council
Council delays left a woman fleeing domestic violence with her autistic child in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for nearly two years, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Don’t miss out on chance to learn from complaints, Ombudsman urges
Councils should view complaints as an opportunity to improve services, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has recommended.
Admissions authorities reminded about proper vacancy process
Admissions authorities across England are being urged to remind their schools about the proper process for filling places following a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).
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: 24 022 022
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- BinJ to review its procedures within two months of LGSCO decision to ensure that: a) all council tax staff can differentiate between matters carrying aright of appeal and those which are for the complaints procedure, and can take correct action on each; and b) its standard letters, website, and other relevant correspondence provide information about council tax liability appeals.
Case reference: 24 014 029
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council agreed to carry out a review to identify the reasons why the section 202 review did not take place within 8 weeks and act to ensure the delay experienced on this case is not repeated on future cases.
- The Council agreed to remind relevant staff of the need to record decisions about suitability.
- The Council agreed to remind relevant staff of the need to promptly inform applicants of the decision about suitability.
Case reference: 24 013 200
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- set out action taken to improve delays in the Review Team
Case reference: 24 011 190
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- • 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.
Case reference: 24 009 793
Category: Education
Sub Category: School admissions
- The Council has agreed to remind Panel members and staff who deal with deferred entry requests of the requirements set out in the Admissions Code and relevant guidance. It should also provide those staff with a copy of this decision statement.
- The Council will also take action to ensure decision letters include a meaningful analysis of why the Council has reached a decision about what is in the best interests of the specific child
Case reference: 24 009 675
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- 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.
Case reference: 24 008 427
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- 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.
Case reference: 24 006 914
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- 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.
Case reference: 24 003 551
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council has agreed to:Identify the action it is going to take to ensure it communicates with people about the charges for their care;Introduce policies and procedures on charging legal costs and interest on unpaid care charges.
Case reference: 24 003 541
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- 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.
Last updated: 4 April 2015