Service improvements

London Borough of Newham

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 1 - 10 of 14 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Newham (24 006 067)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 17-Dec-2024

    Summary

    Ms C complains the Council has failed to renew her Blue Badge application. The Council is at fault for delay, and failing to provide proper reasons for rejecting Ms C’s review. This has caused Ms C uncertainty about whether the Council has properly considered her review request and her time and trouble in escalating her complaint. To remedy the complaint the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms C, and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will:-a) review the Council’s policy on how it considers people who have hidden disabilities but can go out if accompanied to ensure it is in line with DfT guidance and the Council is not fettering its discretion;b) review procedures to ensure appeal outcomes are properly reasoned; andc) review why there was a delay in dealing with the appeal and produce a plan about how it intends to reduce future delay.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 005 884)

    Category: Housing Date: 06-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council delayed taking action to remedy damp in her temporary accommodation. The Council accepts there was delay which meant Miss X was left in unsuitable accommodation for 31 months. The Council has already moved Miss X into alternative accommodation and a suitable financial remedy is now agreed.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review the liaison arrangements with managing agents to ensure it is aware of any repair issues that are ongoing, especially where buildings are owned by a third party, to ensure the Council is meeting its repair duties.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 005 745)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 27-Mar-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council had failed to tell him his aunt (Miss Y) would be liable for some of the costs of residential care arranged for her by the Council. We found fault with the Council for not providing Mr X with enough information about charging for Miss Y’s residential care services. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Miss Y and Mr X. The Council has agreed to apologise, discuss a payment plan with Mr X and make payments to recognise Miss Y’s and Mr X’s distress. The Council has also agreed to carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review what information about financial assessments and charging it should give to its residents during their six weeks of intermediate care. The Council will ensure that social workers, as part of the process, explain how residents’ finances will be assessed and what the residents can expect to be charged for. They will also provide relevant written information.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 003 799)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Feb-2025

    Summary

    We found fault with the Council’s failure to ensure delivery of all special educational provision to the complainant’s (Ms X) daughter (Y). The Council’s fault caused injustice to Y and Ms X. The Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise Y’s educational loss and Ms X’s distress and carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind the front-line special educational needs staff and their managers of the Council’s absolute duty to ensure delivery of special educational provision included in children’s EHC Plans and the need to act without delay when schools cannot secure the full therapy package included in children’s EHC Plans. The Council should provide us with evidence it has completed this action.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 002 528)

    Category: Housing Date: 12-Nov-2024

    Summary

    We have completed our investigation. The Council was at fault. It did not properly assess Mr X and his family’s homelessness and missed opportunities to offer interim accommodation to Mr X and his family. Mr X suffered avoidable distress, confusion, and delayed appeal rights. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mr X, and deliver training to its homelessness prevention and assistance service.

    Service improvements

    Share learning from this decision with the homelessness prevention and assistance service.Provide internal staff training to the homelessness prevention and assistance service about when the Council’s interim accommodation duty arises. Pay attention to the different thresholds outlined in Chapter 15 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 002 314)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 11-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained to the Council about its actions when she was in its care as a child and as a care leaver. We found that the Council was at fault for not agreeing to investigate the complaints under the statutory Children Act 1989 complaints’ procedures. The Council has now agreed to start a statutory investigation at stage two without delay. We have therefore completed our investigation and are closing the complaint.

    Service improvements

    the Council will issue guidance to complaint staff to ensure that they understand the discretion under the Children Act complaints procedure to investigate historic complaints out of time and that they must show how they have considered this discretion.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 001 585)

    Category: Housing Date: 25-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Ms B complained about how the Council dealt with her 2023 homelessness application, its staff conduct, its complaint handling and its poor communication with her. Ms B also complained the Council failed to comply with one of the recommended actions it agreed to complete following the Ombudsman’s investigation into her previous complaint about her housing situation. There were faults by the Council which caused injustice to Ms B. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    Ensure the Council assesses and make its decisions in a timely manner about what duty it owes to applicants who are either threatened to be homeless or are homeless.Remind relevant staff of the importance of reviewing the duty it owes applicants when there has been a change to their homeless/housing situations in line with the code of guidance. The Council should also ensure it issues applicants with its decision letters to notify them of the duty accepted or ended and the applicants review rights.Train relevant staff on the use of the Council’s new information and communication technology system for creating and monitoring personal housing plans. The Council should also remind relevant staff of the importance of creating a robust, specific and realistic personal housing plans for applicants. It should ensure the plans are reviewed regularly especially when there has been a change in the applicant’s housing situation. This will allow the Council and the applicants focus on steps required to help secure their accommodation.Remind relevant staff of the importance of adhering to the Council’s complaints procedure.

  • London Borough of Newham (24 000 018)

    Category: Housing Date: 13-Oct-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council placed him in an incorrect priority band for his housing register application and did not respond to his calls and emails. He says the Council’s actions negatively impacted his mental health and meant he was homeless for longer than necessary. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, review its decision regarding Mr X’s priority status, and carry out service improvements to avoid the fault re-occurring.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff that the Housing Act 1996 does not limit the number of homelessness applications that can be made and that applicants can apply to more than one local authority at the same time.Remind staff to ensure they consider contacts from applicants about dissatisfaction with a priority band decision as potential review requests, not only as complaints.Remind staff to ensure the Council’s decision/notification letters to applicants clearly explain the right to request a review, including timescales, and also provide clear grounds for the decision.

  • London Borough of Newham (23 020 975)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Oct-2024

    Summary

    We found the Council at fault for its response when Mrs D sought its support when she faced being made homeless. The Council delayed in making decisions and failed to communicate with her. This caused Mrs D avoidable distress. The Council has accepted these findings and at the end of this statement we set out what action it will take to remedy this injustice and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to deliver a briefing to all housing caseworkers who assess homeless applicants to reinforce advice in the Government code of guidance on the correct approach to take when the homeless applicant has received a Section 21 Housing Act from their landlord. In this case the Council had failed to follow that advice leading to unnecessary distress and costs for the complainant.The Council agreed to also introduce a procedure to review on a regular basis all cases where it has accepted it owes the prevention duty to homeless applicants. This is so it can avoid drift in cases and make timely decisions on ending that duty and / or setting out what further duties it may owe to the applicant.

  • London Borough of Newham (23 019 061)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 25-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Ms D complained how the Council, and the care provider it commissioned, handled matters when her brother’s bathroom required major repairs. She also complained the Council delayed carrying out a review of her brother’s care and support plan. We find fault with how the care provider handled the repair issues. We also find the Council was at fault for its delay in carrying out a review of the care and support plan. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware they must review a service user’s care and support plan every 12 months.

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