Service improvements

London Borough of Lewisham

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 1 - 4 of 4 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Lewisham (25 010 749)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Sep-2025

    Summary

    The Ombudsman carried out several investigations about delay in the Council carrying out Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan annual reviews for children in its area. We asked the Council questions about the widespread impact of delay. The Council was at fault. It delayed carrying out a significant number of EHC Plan annual reviews for children in its area in 2024. The action proposed by the Council to address the issue is a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    Implement the action plan, as detailed in its formal enquiry response to the Ombudsman, to address the issue of delay. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions for the first 6-month period and continue to implement agreed recommendations thereafter.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (25 005 867)

    Category: Education Date: 17-Mar-2026

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council failed to deal with education for her son Y properly. The Council is at fault because it did not properly consider whether it should provide alternative education for Y. Y missed educational provision. The Council should apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mrs X and provide an action plan showing how it will ensure that alternative education is properly considered.

    Service improvements

    Provide an action plan showing how it will ensure that proper consideration is given to the provision of alternate education provision and record keeping of those decisions when the Council is aware that a child is not attending school

  • London Borough of Lewisham (25 003 395)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Jan-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault as it failed to carry out appropriate planning for the ending of Mr Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan when he reached the age of 25. This caused him distress and uncertainty and his sister, Miss X frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments and through training or guidance remind staff of the importance of post 25 transition planning.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed, through training or guidance, to remind case workers of the importance of ensuring appropriate transition planning for those whose Education, Health and Care Plans are due to end.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 008 982)

    Category: Education Date: 08-May-2025

    Summary

    Miss C complained that, after her son’s laptop broke, the Council refused to fund another one, despite the fact he did not have any other way to receive his online tutoring. The Council did not respond to her contacts and delayed arranging a school placement. We uphold the complaint, due to the Council not responding to Miss C’s contacts and delaying its consultation with schools. Miss C and her son experienced avoidable distress and her son missed education. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy this injustice and to carry out a review.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the faults found in this complaint and produce recommendations for how it can avoid a situation in the future where consultations with educational institutions are delayed and contacts from parents go unanswered. These recommendations should be considered by an officer with sufficient seniority to implement any changes recommended.

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