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
-
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.
-
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: 24 013 200
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- set out action taken to improve delays in the Review Team
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: 24 009 478
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Looked after children
- Remind staff of timescales as set out in the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
- Remind staff to complete recommendations agreed by the Council as part of the statutory children’s complaints procedure within the agreed timescales.
Case reference: 24 006 548
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will review its main housing duty decision letters to ensure they give clear information about a person's right to ask for a statutory review of the suitability of their temporary accommodation.
Case reference: 24 006 071
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- Remind staff of the Council’s duty to people living in unsuitable accommodation.
- Provide guidance to all relevant staff on the actions the Council should take to source alternative accommodation. This guidance should include recording the actions the Council takes.
Case reference: 24 004 791
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council agreed to ensure it considers the suitability of temporary accommodation in response to complaints of disrepair, including damp and mould, and issues a written decision setting out the applicant's right to ask for a suitability review. It will provide training or guidance as needed.
- The Council agreed to arrange a meeting between a senior Council manager responsible for procurement and management of temporary accommodation and a senior representative from the managing agent to discuss our findings. They should identify ways to improve liaison, information-sharing and performance monitoring to ensure the agent meets the timescales and service standards in the agreement.
- The Council agreed to monitor the managing agent’s performance against the service level agreement for three months from the date of our final decision. It is up to the Council how it chooses to conduct this monitoring. If the Council decides not to physically inspect all properties, it should consider identifying and inspecting properties with repeated reports of disrepair from occupants.
Case reference: 24 001 840
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- In writing, remind officers to keep accurate records of how decisions were reached.
- In writing, remind officers to issue complaint responses which deal with the issues raised by complainants.
Case reference: 24 000 401
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour
- Remind relevant staff of the importance of keeping accurate records of meetings and decision making.
- Provide guidance to relevant staff on the Council's responsibilities when completing Anti-Social Behaviour case reviews.
Case reference: 23 021 187
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will review any similar cases where residents in this building (living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council) have reported problems with the building and consider whether it is appropriate to move them into suitable accommodation.
Case reference: 23 020 606
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will ensure it has mechanisms in place to assess the suitability of temporary accommodation following reports of disrepair from tenants.
Last updated: 4 April 2015