Service improvements

London Borough of Newham

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 11 - 17 of 17 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

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

  • London Borough of Newham (21 017 578)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 12-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Mr C complains the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a Freedom Pass is wrong. The Council is at fault for failing to have a written policy about how it assesses people with hearing loss for a Freedom Pass. It is also at fault for failing to provide Mr C proper reasons about why it rejected his application. The Council has agreed to reconsider Mr C’s application and pay him £150 for his time and trouble. The Council has also agreed to have a written policy which people can refer to about its eligibility criteria.

    Service improvements

    provide a written policy about how the Council assesses people with hearing loss for a Freedom Pass so applicants can make an informed decision before applying.

  • London Borough of Newham (21 014 948)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-Sep-2022

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council because it did not properly plan Miss K’s transition from Children to Adult Services and how it would arrange and fund her care. There was also fault in its complaint handling as it failed to refer Miss K’s complaint to a stage three review panel in accordance with the statutory complaints process. The Council’s shortcomings caused Miss K and her foster carer distress and frustration. They are also left uncertain that some matters might have been resolved had the Council completed the complaints process. The Council has agreed to take the further action I recommended to remedy the complaint.

    Service improvements

    Review how it operates the statutory childrens complaints process and update internal guidance to reflect any changes needed.Deliver training to relevant staff to ensure the fault does not recur, in particular training on the role of the review panel and when it should refer matters to it.

  • London Borough of Newham (21 013 935)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council did not follow the correct process when dealing with his Right to Buy application. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault by the Council. There was no basis for the Council to have cancelled Mr X and Ms Y’s Right to Buy application in these circumstances and the Council has agreed to the recommendations we proposed.

    Service improvements

    c) The Council will explain what it will do to ensure it is only requesting information necessary to determine the eligibility of applicants. The information the Council requests should be proportionate and in line with legislation and guidance on the matter. The Council should amend any internal guidance to reflect this.d) The Council will undertake a review to determine whether any other applications have been closed in similar circumstances; it will provide its findings to the Ombudsman. The Council will explain what action it will take with any applications it finds were wrongly closed.

  • London Borough of Newham (21 012 425)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 24-Nov-2022

    Summary

    The complainant (Ms X) complained about the lack of children’s services support for her son (Y) despite his diagnosis of epilepsy and Occupational Therapist’s (OT) recommendations. She also said the Council failed in the way it considered her complaint. We found fault with the Council’s handling of Ms X’s complaint. The Council agreed to apologise, consider Ms X’s complaint at stage three of the children’s statutory complaint procedure and make a time and trouble payment. The Council also agreed some service improvements to improve its complaint handling.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provideits staff dealing with the Children’s Services complaints with the training onthe statutory children’s complaint procedure, including eligibility criteriafor considering complaints within children statutory complaint procedure asexplained in paragraph two of the Statutory Guidance ‘Getting the best out ofcomplaints’.The Council will consider introducinga template for the Council’s response letter in stage two of the complaintprocess, which would include:a) information on the right to escalate complaints to stage three;b) timescales for making such request.The Council will review its Corporate Complaint Policy and consider amending paragraph five ofthe policy to include matters which would be considered under children’sstatutory complaints process.The Council will consider introducinga policy on the children’s statutory complaints procedure with much moredetailed information than currently on the Council’s website, including as aminimum:a) Who can raise complaints in these proceedings;b) What can be complained about;c) Details of the timescales and process.The Council shouldprovide us with evidence it has completed the above actions.

  • London Borough of Newham (21 008 441)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complains the chair of a child in need meeting bullied her and the Council has delayed in providing respite for her daughter. We cannot come to any view on whether the chair of the child in need meeting bullied Ms X. The Council is not at fault for the delays in securing respite provision for Ms X. But it is at fault for not considering Ms X’s complaint through the children’s services statutory complaints procedure

    Service improvements

    That the Council, by training or other means, ensures officers are able to identify what complaints should be considered through the statutory complaints process. This is to ensure eligible complaints are considered through the statutory process

  • London Borough of Newham (21 008 274)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 28-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council delayed installing a disabled parking bay near her property. The Council has already admitted to delays but stated they occurred because work stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a significant backlog. Under these circumstances, we do not find fault. The Council’s failure to explain on its website that it can exercise discretion when determining disabled parking bay applications is fault. It has agreed to amend its website to make this clear.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to amend its website to make it clear it will consider all applications for disabled parking bays from blue badge holders on a case-by-case basis when the applicant is in receipt of the lower mobility rate component of Disability Living Allowance.The Council agreed to ensure relevant staff are aware that applications for disabled parking bays, where the applicant has a blue badge but does not receive the higher mobility rate for Disability Living Allowance, should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

  • London Borough of Newham (20 012 369)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Ms Z, on behalf of her mother Ms X, complained about the Council’s action in respect of her finances. There is fault by the Council in failing to start a safeguarding investigation at the appropriate time; delay in progressing a safeguarding investigation and failure to ensure Ms X's needs were met when it suspected her son was financially abusing her. A suitable remedy has been agreed.

    Service improvements

    Ensure staff involved in safeguarding investigations have appropriate training and guidance to ensure investigations are started appropriately and completed without delayEnsure staff in client affairs have appropriate training around Lasting Power of Attorney's and safeguarding to ensure they manage client's finances correctly.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings