London Borough of Lewisham
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 174 complaints. Of these, 68 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 64 complaints. We investigated 42 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 42 complaints and upheld 37.
88% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 84% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Lewisham's population, this is 12.4 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 1 out of 37 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
3% 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 31 cases.
In 31 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 Lewisham
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.
Poorly child placed at risk by Lewisham council because of flawed homelessness policy
A seriously ill South London child had to live in damp and mouldy accommodation miles away from their hospital because Lewisham council left it too late to find their homeless family accommodation in the borough, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Is the Children’s statutory complaints process working to support the very children it is designed to help?
Homeless Lewisham mother placed in mouldy accommodation near to her abuser – Ombudsman reports
Lewisham council has agreed to pay a mother more than £14,000 after it left her in such poorly maintained temporary accommodation that it hospitalised her child.
Ombudsman finds London council failed to keep child safe
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said the London Borough of Lewisham exposed a former looked after child to ‘significant harm’ while she was in its care and failed to look into her concerns properly.
Council school transport policies must not fail young adults with disabilities
Councils across England should ensure their education transport policies properly support young adults with disabilities, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said.
Ombudsman criticises London council for errors in children’s complaints handling
Two brothers with learning difficulties saw their care and support packages reduced by Lewisham council without their mother being told why, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Ombudsman highlights inadequate response to remedying complaint
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has criticised a London council after it did not carry out the remedy it had previously agreed to provide.
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: 25 010 749
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- 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.
Case reference: 25 002 786
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council agreed to review its process and consider how it will ensure medical records are received in a timely manner for the medical assessment to take place.
Case reference: 25 000 607
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has also agreed to remind all staff involved in suitability assessments that they must issue a written decision with details of the right of review.
Case reference: 25 000 331
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will review its compensation policy so that it allows for homeless applicants to be reimbursed for costs they incur due to disrepair in temporary accommodation provided to them under the Council's housing duty.
- The Council will remind housing staff who deal with temporary accommodation suitability reviews to ensure review decisions are clearly recorded and a decision letter is sent to the applicant.
Case reference: 24 022 480
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- the Council has agreed to circulate guidance to relevant staff, to ensure they are aware that complaints about conditions in temporary accommodation (as distinct from permanent social housing) fall within the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, and not the Housing Ombudsman Service.
Case reference: 24 021 488
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- Remind relevant officers that where a household in temporary accommodation raises concerns about disrepair, health impacts, or suitability, the Council should consider whether these issues require a reassessment of suitability. Any decision not to review should be clearly documented, with reasons.
Case reference: 24 019 448
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- guidance or training to officers on how to verify if an applicant is homeless
- remind officers to refer review requests to the review team
Case reference: 24 016 426
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Housing benefit and council tax benefit
- The Council has agreed to ensure that complaints are properly investigated and responded to within its published timescales.
Case reference: 24 016 246
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will issue a briefing to relevant staff to remind them of the Council’s duty to keep suitability under review, and recognise the types of communications from service users which should trigger the Council to carry out a review of suitability. This will help to ensure the correct decision-making process is followed and service users are not denied the opportunity to request a section 202 suitability of accommodation review.
- The Council will issue a briefing to relevant staff to remind them of the importance of actioning notifications of changes in circumstances and new medical information from service users in a timely manner. This will help to ensure there are no delays in the process of making a new suitability decision.
Case reference: 24 015 600
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- the Council has agreed to tell us what steps it will take to ensure its written communications provide adequate information for homeless applicants to make informed decisions throughout the homelessness application process. This includes telling applicants the Council may close their case if they do not provide information within the given deadline, and if applicants use their legal right to remain in their home until the court issues a warrant or bailiffs they may incur costs.
Last updated: 4 April 2015