Service improvements

London Borough of Redbridge

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 11 - 20 of 20 cases with service improvements

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

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 016 712)

    Category: Housing Date: 11-Aug-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for refusing to accept a homeless application from Ms X when she fled domestic abuse to its area. The Council’s housing allocations policy is flawed because it excludes a group of applicants the law says must get reasonable preference. The Council was also at fault for failing to tell Ms X about her right to review its decisions. To remedy the injustice to Ms X, the Council has agreed to apologise, make new decisions on Ms X’s applications, and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    Using this case as an example, the Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the duty to make inquiries and issue a reviewable decision when it has reason to believe someone might be homeless or threatened with homeless, regardless of any duty owed by another councilThe Council has agreed to ensure all decisions on applications for social housing give reasons for the decision and set out the applicant’s right to ask for a review. Amend any templates as necessary.The Council has agreed to identify and implement a means of ensuring that automated decision making in housing allocations does not prevent the Council considering individual circumstances and exercising discretionThe Council has agreed to review and amend the housing allocations policy to ensure it reflects the requirement of the Housing Act 1996 to give reasonable preference to applicants owed a homelessness duty by any council and does not disqualify a group of applicants who would otherwise have reasonable preference.The Council has agreed to keep records of all applications for social housing and resulting decisions in line with the Council’s document retention policy.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 014 994)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Nov-2025

    Summary

    The Council wrongly assessed G’s application for free home to school transport using the law, and its policy, for post-16 pupils, when G was compulsory school age. It imposed a personal transport budget as G’s transport offer, when this required parental consent. It failed to notice its error at subsequent appeals. G’s parents had to divert funding provided for social care needs to get G to and from school, and some days G could not go to school. The family missed out on respite and G missed leisure activities social care had determined were needed to aid G’s development. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and make service improvements. The complaint is upheld.

    Service improvements

    The Council used the wrong age policy and did not identify this at appeal stage. The Council will check its guidance and training for decision makers to ensure they apply the correct law and guidance for the age / year group of the applicant, and this is checked at every stage. The Council could consider introducing prompts or checklists to assist with this.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 014 685)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council delayed in completing a review of her child’s Education, Health, and Care Plan. The Council accepted it was at fault for the delay and apologised. Following our investigation it also agreed to provide a financial remedy to recognise the avoidable distress caused to Ms X by the delay, and issue a reminder to staff about statutory review timescales.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to issue a reminder to staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disability Service, about the statutory timescales for completing reviews of Education, Health, and Care Plans.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 012 973)

    Category: Housing Date: 03-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the way the Council dealt with her housing application and medical assessment. The Council was at fault for failing to explain the reasons for its decision, failing to evidence it had considered all of the medical evidence and failing to consider if Mrs X was homeless. This caused Mrs X uncertainty about whether the Council had completed the assessment process properly. The Council will apologise, complete a new medical assessment, consider if Mrs X is homeless and make a payment to her to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind all housing staff dealing with medical assessments of the importance of properly explaining decisions in letters.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 012 196)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 01-Jun-2025

    Summary

    The Council overcharged Mrs Y for the care and support it provided to meet her needs and failed to explain how the charges were calculated. It also delayed responding to the complaint Mr X made on her behalf and the complaint response was inadequate. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and Mrs Y and make a payment to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration they were caused. It has also agreed to revise the invoices and provide training or guidance to staff about responding appropriately to complaints.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide guidance or training to relevant officers within Adult Social Care to ensure that complaint responses are comprehensive enough to address the concerns raised and provide a clear explanation of the findings and recommendations of the complaint investigation.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 012 011)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Jun-2025

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for repeated failures to consider the suitability of temporary accommodation it provided Mrs X and her family. The properties were unsuitable and Mrs X experienced avoidable financial loss and her children’s education suffered as a result. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments, and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to amend the template for letters offering temporary accommodation to ensure theCouncil explains why it considers the offered property is suitable withreference to the needs and circumstances of the household. The Council will provide training orguidance to relevant staff as necessary.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council has a duty to keep the suitability oftemporary accommodation under review and that it should make a new decision,with new review rights, in response to a change in circumstances or other newevidence.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the definition of a complaint and a service requestand that when deciding a matter is a service request, the Council should setout how the individual can complain if they remain unhappy.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 010 372)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to refuse his child, Y, travel assistance to and from college. The Council was at fault. It failed to consider Y’s individual circumstances, their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and disability when it made its decision and it did not properly explain to Mr X its reasons for refusing travel assistance. It did not follow its appeal process. Furthermore, the Council’s travel assistance policy for post-16 is unclear and its wait time for an assessment for independent travel training is not reasonable. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £300 for the distress, frustration and uncertainty it caused him. It will also conduct a fresh stage two appeal. In addition, the Council will review and amend its policy, procedures, appeal records and decision letters to prevent a recurrence of fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council failed to consider a child's individual circumstances for travel assistance to and from college. It also failed to consider their Education, Health and Care Plan and disability when it made its decision and it did not properly explain its reasons for refusing travel assistance. The Council did not follow its appeal process. The Council will review and amend its procedures, appeal records and decision letters.The Council's travel assistance policy for post-16 is unclear and its wait time for an assessment for independent travel training is not reasonable.The Council will review and amend its travel assistance policy for post-16 so that it clearly explains independent travel training is not an offer of travel assistance; and it provides examples of what exceptional circumstances it would consider when assessing an application for travel assistance.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 009 734)

    Category: Education Date: 14-May-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to consider her son’s circumstances when refusing his application for school transport assistance. There is conflicting evidence about whether the Council followed its policy, the Council failed to follow Government guidance and failed to explain its reasoning when writing to Mrs X to tell her its decision. An agreement to carry out a further appeal, apology, payment to Mrs X, changes to the Council’s transport policy and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind those dealing with school transport cases of the need to ensure parents/carers are given the opportunity to attend stage two appeal panel hearings should they wish to and that decisions following appeals should explain the Council’s reasoning, addressing the points the parents/carers have raised.The Council will amend its school transport policy to make clear parents/carers should be given an opportunity to attend a stage two panel hearing to put their case in person.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 008 348)

    Category: Housing Date: 29-Jul-2025

    Summary

    The Council failed to properly assess the capacity of three family members to make a homelessness application when they told the Council they were suffering domestic abuse. The Council did not deal with the safeguarding referral appropriately or in good time, and did not offer the family social care needs assessments soon enough. It cannot show how it made the decision to offer a one-bedroom property and it took too long to deal with the complaint to it. The family missed out on interim accommodation, and they were caused distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make symbolic payments to the family, and review their housing needs. It will also review its training and procedures on mental capacity assessment, arranging interpreters, and monitoring case progress.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share this decision with staff in homelessness, adult social care and complaint handling.The Council will refresh training for homelessness service staff on mental capacity assessments, including the need to record the assessment and the reasons for its conclusions properly.The Council will refresh training for homelessness service staff on its approach, powers and duties with regard to applicant’s suffering domestic abuse.

  • London Borough of Redbridge (24 004 652)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council was at fault. It delayed providing Y with some provision and has still not secured and delivered other provision as outlined in the EHC Plan. The Council also poorly communicated with Ms X when she complained. The Council has agreed it will make Ms X a symbolic payment to recognise the provision Y has not received and for the distress and frustration it caused to Ms X. The Council will also apologise to Ms X. The Council will provide us with an action plan which explains how it will improve its service to prevent a recurrence of fault. It will also remind staff of the response timescales within its complaints procedure.

    Service improvements

    The Council will create an action plan in relation to the shortage of staff within special educational needs and disability. The action plan will have target dates and specify the steps the Council intends on carrying out to prevent delays to provision and lack of provision.The Council will remind staff to adhere to its complaints procedure to ensure they are effectively communicating with parents.

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