London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 009 945)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 15-May-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to ensure his son, Y received an education or the specialist provision in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan since October 2023 while he was out of school. The Council was at fault as it failed to ensure Y received a suitable education in line with his EHC Plan between October 2023 and July 2024. The Council agreed to make payments to recognise the impact this had on Y’s education and for the distress and uncertainty caused to Mr X.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 014 624)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 26-May-2025

Summary: Mx Z complained about the way the Council has dealt with their homelessness when they were fleeing domestic abuse. The Council was at fault for the delay in providing interim accommodation, in ending the relief duty, in reaching a decision on Mx Z’s homelessness and in responding to Mx Z’s complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to Mx Z.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 021 260)

Statement Upheld Charging 27-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a charge for her late husband’s care. This is because the Council has now refunded the charge and apologised to Ms X. Further investigation by us would achieve nothing more.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 000 033)

Report Upheld Homelessness 09-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council failed to provide sufficient support when he became homeless due to domestic abuse. Mr X considers the Council’s actions show it discriminated against him as he was not treated the same way as a woman fleeing domestic abuse. Mr X also considers the Council’s actions have caused the loss of his belongings, caused significant distress and put him at risk of harm and abuse.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 012 819)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 11-Jun-2025

Summary: The Council was at fault when it failed to clearly inform Miss X about the conditions around payments from its homelessness prevention fund and delayed making a decision on her application for a reimbursement of costs she paid. The Council offered Miss X a symbolic payment to recognise the distress, frustration and uncertainty the matter caused her however, it failed to make this payment. The Council will apologise to Miss X, decide whether it will reimburse Miss X and pay her the symbolic payment it had offered to her. The Council revised its policy to make it clearer.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 013 783)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 15-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed in updating his son’s Education, Health and Care Plan following an annual review. Mr X also complains his son did not receive support at school and relevant assessments have not been completed. We find the Council at fault for a delay in issuing an amended, final Education, Health and Care Plan. This caused Mr X distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Mr X a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 015 597)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Jun-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed carrying out a review of her carer’s assessment. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in completing the review. This caused Mrs X upset and frustration. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to make a payment to Mrs X and implement a service improvement.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 010 138)

Report Upheld Other 30-Jun-2025

Summary: We found the Council failed to complete the recommendations made after it considered a complaint Ms X made through the children’s statutory complaints procedure. Her complaint to the Council was about matters including disabled adaptations to her home and a child and family assessment. We previously upheld other complaints from Ms X about other occasions when the Council failed to act on the recommendations from the children’s statutory complaints procedure which caused her frustration and uncertainty. We therefore have concerns about the Council’s governance arrangements to administer the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The fault in this investigation once again caused Ms X frustration and uncertainty and shows the Council is not taking enough action to learn from its mistakes.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 023 185)

Statement Upheld Charging 01-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with an invoice it sent to Ms B for care charges. The Council has cancelled the charge and apologised to Ms B for its delay. An investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome or achieve more.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 006 835)

Statement Upheld Private housing 10-Jul-2025

Summary: X complained that the Council failed to properly respond to reports their rental accommodation suffered from disrepair and the landlord harassed and attempted to illegally evict X. We find the Council failed to properly consider its powers to tackle landlord harassment and retaliatory eviction, which caused X significant distress and risk of harm. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to X and implement service improvements to remedy the injustice.