Rethinking school communications ahead of the PSTN switch-off
Cardiff Council takes PSTN switch-off as opportunity to rethink school communications, writes Dan York, Local Government Sector Lead, Avaya UK&I.
Council refuses to pay remedy to domestic abuse victim
13/11/2024 Leicester City Council has refused part of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s recommendation to pay a homeless domestic abuse victim following a complaint. |
Ombudsman chief to retire
08/11/2024 The chief executive of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will retire in May. |
Councils urged to improve adoption processes
07/11/2024 Local authorities in England need to learn from past failures to get support for adoptive families right, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says. |
Council pays resident £3,000 over noise pollution
24/10/2024 North Hertfordshire District Council did not do enough to stop a resident suffering noise pollution from a nearby business, an Ombudsman has found. |
Council apologises after ‘vulnerable’ man left homeless
17/10/2024 Tower Hamlets Council has apologised after it left a vulnerable man with significant care needs unsupported when he was made homeless. |
Council landlords struggle with damp and mould
17/10/2024 Seven councils have been named in a housing watchdog's report on severe maladministration in damp and mould complaints. |
Mother fleeing abuse forced to live in mixed-sex B&B
10/10/2024 A mother fleeing abuse was forced to live in accommodation so unsuitable her disabled child would soil themselves rather than use the shared bathroom. |
Council apologises for flawed approach to travel support
04/10/2024 Sandwell Council has apologised after the local government Ombudsman found flaws in the way it considered a family’s application for travel support. |
Chief ombudsman for new housing appointed
25/09/2024 The New Homes Ombudsman Service (NHOS) has appointed Nigel Cates as the new chief ombudsman to lead the service from the end of September. |
Ombudsman calls for mandatory complaints signposting
25/09/2024 The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has called for private care providers to be required to tell people about its service. |
Councils accused of being overzealous with ‘middle-class fly-tipping’
23/09/2024 Councils have been accused of being overzealous when it comes to fining people who leave items outside their home for neighbours to collect for free. |
Ombudsman: Grenfell should lead to end of social housing ‘stigma’
05/09/2024 The inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy should lead to a ‘wider societal change’ to end the stigmatisation of those living in social housing, Ombudsman says. |
Woman denied help after council fails to recognise domestic abuse
05/09/2024 Ealing Council denied a pregnant woman housing support because it used an outdated definition of domestic abuse, an ombudsman has found. |
Teen left at self-harm risk after council’s housing delay
22/08/2024 A teenager with significant support needs was at significant risk of self-harm after a council left him ‘on the brink of homeless’, an ombudsman has reported. |
Ombudsman ‘astonished’ by failure to remove waste
08/08/2024 Kingston Council’s refusal to move a dumped mattress for four months has left the local government ombudsman ‘astonished’. |
Ombudsman publishes new guidance for housing officers
31/07/2024 The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has published a guide for officers who make decisions on people’s housing needs based on medical assessments. |
Severe maladministration findings prompt housing investigation
30/07/2024 The Housing Ombudsman has launched a special investigation into Lewisham Council following a ‘significant number of severe maladministration findings’. |
Councils ‘struggling to cope’ with complaints
24/07/2024 More than one in five remedies by councils who have received complaints are being implemented late, Ombudsman finds. |
Tower Hamlets Council apologises for housing backlog
12/07/2024 Tower Hamlets Council has agreed to review the way it allocates properties after an investigation revealed a backlog in housing register applications. |
Council failed in duties over care home closure
08/07/2024 Wokingham Borough Council’s failures over a struggling care home caused distress and anxiety for a woman who had lived there for 16 years, an investigation has found. |
Council pays family £1,500 after school transport failure
04/07/2024 A family in Surrey has been paid £1,500 in compensation after the county council failed to provide school transport for a child with medical needs. |
Tower Hamlets apologises after ‘gatekeeping’ finding
13/05/2024 Tower Hamlets did not do enough to help a family threatened with eviction, an ombudsman has found. |
Council pays family £8k over failure to educate child
25/04/2024 Suffolk County Council left a young girl with special educational needs with no education for a year and a half, an ombudsman has found. |
Essex council agrees to rethink alternative education changes
04/04/2024 Essex CC agrees to investigate why changes to its alternative education provision for children who are unable to attend school have not improved the service. |
Housing Ombudsman awards residents £40k
14/03/2024 Residents left in dire damp and mould conditions by Lewisham Council have been awarded tens of thousands of pounds. |
Council apologises for failing to recognise abuse
14/03/2024 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has apologised after failing to properly identify the abuse suffered by a homeless man. |
Ombudsman: Family left ‘sofa surfing’ for a year
01/03/2024 Waltham Forest Council has apologised after a family was forced to stay with relatives and friends – or ‘sofa surfing’ – for a year because the local authority forgot about them. |
Birmingham failed residents over damp and mould, ombudsman finds
22/02/2024 The Housing Ombudsman has found six cases of severe maladministration in Birmingham City Council’s handling of issues reported by tenants. |
Council to revisit how it calculated allowances to 300 families
21/02/2024 An investigation has revealed that Devon County Council has been calculating incorrectly allowances for families who look after children as special guardians. |
Thurrock bin crews trapped wheelchair user
20/02/2024 Bin crews in Thurrock have repeatedly trapped a disabled woman in her home by not returning her bins to the proper place, ombudsman finds. |
Council appeared to be in ‘crisis management mode’
20/02/2024 ‘Multiple and repeated’ failures by Hammersmith and Fulham Council left residents feeling ‘anything but secure in their homes’, a special investigation has found. |
Council order to pay over £18k after severe maladministration findings
01/02/2024 Waltham Forest Council has been ordered to pay £18,800 in compensation after failings were discovered in three different housing cases. |
Children with SEND impacted by psychologist shortage
31/01/2024 The lives of children with SEND are being negatively affected by the shortage of educational psychologists, the local government ombudsman has warned. |
North Northants fined £1,500 after girl misses school
26/01/2024 The leader of North Northamptonshire Council has apologised to the family of a girl who missed part of her education because of her health. |
Ombudsman calls for Royal Commission for social housing
23/01/2024 The Housing Ombudsman has called for the establishment of a Royal Commission to deliver a long-term plan for social housing that tackles social injustices. |
New local government Ombudsman appointed
18/01/2024 Amerdeep Somal will be the next Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, the Government has confirmed. |
Maladministration findings ‘springboard’ to better services, Croydon told
16/01/2024 Croydon Council has been told by the Housing Ombudsman to use learning as a ‘springboard to deliver better services’ after severe maladministration findings. |
Council improvements not ‘felt by residents’
11/01/2024 Lambeth Council’s complaints handling process has improved but the results have not been ‘seen and felt by its residents’, according to the Housing Ombudsman. |
Council slammed over complaints response
11/01/2024 A watchdog has been ‘compelled’ to publicly highlight Bury Council’s failures after the authority took too long to remedy complaints. |
Special investigation launched into Camden and Hackney
12/12/2023 A special investigation has been launched into Camden and Hackney councils after the Housing Ombudsman found they were struggling to tackle damp and mould. |
Gove criticises ‘unacceptable’ maladministration findings
11/12/2023 Housing secretary Michael Gove has told three councils he will take a ‘personal interest’ in how they improve following findings of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman. |
Repairs failure caused family ‘significant distress’
06/12/2023 The Housing Ombudsman has found severe maladministration in Hackney Council’s three-year failure to properly fix a leaking roof. |
Council fined £13k after maladministration findings
01/12/2023 Lambeth Council has been ordered to pay £13,000 in compensation after six severe maladministration findings. |
Care service failed to meet cultural needs
28/11/2023 A woman suffered diet and skin problems because the nursing home her council placed her in failed to meet her cultural needs, a watchdog has found. |
Council let ‘uninhabitable’ flat to family
16/11/2023 Manchester City Council let a property with damp rooms and a rotten floor to a family with young children, the Housing Ombudsman has found. |
Council failure left ambulance unable to reach resident
15/11/2023 Stevenage Borough Council’s failure to fix a disabled resident’s door entry system left the ambulance service unable to attend to him, a watchdog has found. |
South Gloucestershire families not getting agreed respite
08/11/2023 Almost a third of families with children with special needs in South Gloucestershire have not been receiving sufficient respite care, an investigation has found. |
Islington ordered to pay £66,000 after housing investigation
24/10/2023 A ‘disjointed’ approach to complaints and a ‘lack of ownership’ were found in a special investigation to be behind Islington Council's 'persisting' housing problems. |
Social housing complaints hit record high
17/10/2023 Complaints against social housing landlords last year saw a record spike due to poor property conditions and media coverage after the death of Awaab Ishak. |
Council failed for years over restaurant complaints
21/09/2023 A homeowner suffered years of distress because Brentwood council failed to properly investigate nuisances caused by a next-door restaurant, the local government ombudsman has found. |
Record non-compliance in landlords’ complaint handling
19/09/2023 A record number of landlords did not comply with complaint handling failure orders in the last quarter, the Housing Ombudsman has found. |
Council apologises after man with dementia left unsupported
08/09/2023 Calderdale Council has apologised after a man with a rapidly progressing form of dementia was left in unsuitable hotel accommodation for too long. |
Newham to review hundreds of rejected freedom passes
07/09/2023 Following an ombudsman investigation, the London Borough of Newham will review more than 200 applications for freedom passes it rejected. |
Surge in upheld SEND complaints
04/09/2023 A growing number of complaints involving special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision and education, health and care (EHC) plans are being upheld by the local government ombudsman. |
Council to compensate family over missed schooling
24/08/2023 Leeds City Council has been ordered to pay £1,500 to a mother whose child could not attend school for 18 months because of delays to an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. |
Hundreds of Valium prescriptions to be reviewed
23/08/2023 Hundreds of vulnerable people with drug and alcohol dependencies who have been prescribed Valium are set to have their cases reviewed following investigation. |
Council’s delays left resident at risk
22/08/2023 Newham Council has been ordered to pay £5,400 after the London borough took three years to resolve damp and mould issues in one of its properties. |
Complaint handling failure leaves children at risk
15/08/2023 Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been criticised after a complaint handling failure left vulnerable children in a damp and mouldy property. |
Councils failing to tackle antisocial behaviour
15/08/2023 Local authorities are failing to use the tools available to them to tackle antisocial behaviour, according to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. |
Housing Ombudsman orders Waverley to pay £13,000
11/08/2023 Waverley Borough Council has been ordered to pay nearly £13,000 after delays meant a resident was forced to install disability adaptations themselves. |
Council criticised for failing to investigate noise complaint
09/08/2023 A couple who owns a company in Gloucester have accused the council of costing them business by not investigating their complaint against a noisy neighbour. |
Sandwell Council fails resident with depression
09/08/2023 Sandwell Council failed to consider a resident’s vulnerabilities during an anti-social behaviour case despite multiple reminders, Housing Ombudsman has found. |
First joint Ombudsmen investigation criticises complaint handling
08/08/2023 Nottingham CC has been criticised for the way it dealt with antisocial behaviour in what was the first joint investigation by the two Ombudsmen’s services. |
Council fined after family of six forced to share bedroom
01/08/2023 The Housing Ombudsman has fined Barking and Dagenham Council £6,000 after its failure to deal with damp and mould resulted in a family sharing a bedroom. |
Liverpool CC praised for complaints handling improvements
27/07/2023 Liverpool City Council has been praised for the improvements it has made in the way it handles complaints. |
Ombudsman orders landlord L&Q to pay £142,000
27/07/2023 One of the biggest social landlords in Britain has been ordered to pay £142,000 after an investigation revealed it was ‘dismissive’ of complaints. |
Education and children's services top complaints to Ombudsman
26/07/2023 The Ombudsman’s annual complaints statistics have revealed education and children’s services as the key areas of concern, making up a quarter of the workload. |
Housing Ombudsman inspecting Lambeth Council over complaint handling
11/07/2023 The Housing Ombudsman is scrutinizing Lambeth Council’s complaint handling after finding that residents from a previously resolved case had problems return. |
Investigation reveals complaints backlog in Kent
06/07/2023 Kent County Council has a backlog of 170 unanswered children’s services and education complaints, an investigation has revealed. |
Haringey accused of ‘culture of apathy’
04/07/2023 There is a ‘culture of apathy’ at Haringey that has led to a lack of accountability and intrinsic motivation when handling complaints, Housing Ombudsman says. |
Ealing Council apologises to family after ombudsman report
22/06/2023 Ealing Council has apologised to a family who lived in unsuitable accommodation for nearly 18 months |
Council chiefs named in King's Birthday Honours
19/06/2023 Council officers and members were among those to be named on the King’s Birthday Honours list this year. |
Ombudsman issues 'adverse findings notice'
16/06/2023 The local government Ombudsman has issued a rare 'adverse findings notice' against a care provider in Leicester after he refused to comply with a remedy. |
Complaint handling delay leaves Ealing resident vulnerable
15/06/2023 A nine-month delay in Ealing Council’s complaint handling left a vulnerable resident without redress, Ombudsman says. |
Ombudsman criticises council’s school transport policy
15/06/2023 Stockton-on-Tees Council has pledged to improve its education transport policy for young adults after being taken to task in an Ombudsman investigation. |
Learn from complaint handling errors, Ombudsman says
13/06/2023 The Ombudsman has called on landlords to learn from the way complaints about housing have been handled ahead of a shakeup in the system next year. |
Ombudsman highlights importance of proper complaints handling
09/06/2023 Ombudsman reminds local authorities about the importance of handling complaints properly after it found problems with two councils’ procedures. |
Lambeth fined £6,500 after failing to fix leaky roof
06/06/2023 Lambeth Council has been ordered to pay £6,500 in compensation after it left a family in a damp and mouldy house with a leaky roof for six years. |
Council criticised after safeguarding failure
02/06/2023 Tandridge DC failed in its duties towards a resident with poor mental health under the Equality Act and its own safeguarding policy, ombudsman finds. |
Councils urged to improve knowledge and information management
24/05/2023 Knowledge and information problems have led to vulnerabilities being missed and financial detriment for residents seeking housing help, says Ombudsman. |
Council asked to reimburse father for nursery fees
19/05/2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Council has been asked to partially reimburse the fees a father paid while his daughter was receiving free nursery care. |
Ombudsman to investigate possible failure at London borough
18/05/2023 Ombudsman is investigating Hammersmith and Fulham council to see if shortcomings in complaints handling and repair reports point to wider failure. |
Southwark ordered to pay £10,000 over housing issues
17/05/2023 Southwark Council has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 to two residents after severe maladministration findings were issued by the Housing Ombudsman. |
Ombudsman reminds councils to investigate renters’ concerns
11/05/2023 Councils reminded of their duties to investigate problems in private rented housing after concerns were raised about Worcester CC's complaint handling. |
London borough hit by 'severe maladministration' finding
09/05/2023 The Housing Ombudsman has issued seven findings of ‘severe maladministration’ against Hammersmith & Fulham LBC. |
Council errors led resident to be unfairly threatened with court
03/05/2023 Clerical confusion and billing errors led to a Barnet resident being unfairly threatened with court action for not paying her council tax, Ombudsman finds. |
Care home accused of ‘contemptuous’ behaviour
27/04/2023 Ombudsman has accused a Leicester care company boss of sending ‘intimidating, abusive and threatening emails’ to an elderly woman who complained. |
Council agrees to refund thousands in school transport costs
20/04/2023 Leicestershire County Council has agreed to refund a mother’s school transport costs after Ombudsman found flaws in the way it handled her application. |
Government launches £500,000 know-your-rights scheme
19/04/2023 Social housing tenants in seven cities are to be offered a place on a Government-funded training scheme aimed at helping them hold their landlords to account. |
Lambeth council fined £20k after child misses operation
13/04/2023 A young person spent three years in unnecessary pain because delays by Lambeth council meant they could not have a crucial operation, the ombudsman has ruled. |
Aico host webinar on A Spotlight on Damp and Mould with The Housing Ombudsman
12/04/2023 Aico has welcomed the Housing Ombudsman Service to an online event focusing on damp and mould in the housing sector and best practices to keep residents safe. |
London councils set out ‘shared vision’ to improve social housing
12/04/2023 London boroughs have vowed to do better for tenants in social housing after acknowledging the poor state of many homes. |
Council failed to address mould despite baby
03/04/2023 Westminster CC failed to tackle damp and mould in a resident’s home for over two years despite knowing there was a baby living there, Ombudsman reveals. |
Landlord criticised over toddler death ‘dismissive’ of residents
28/03/2023 The housing association criticised over death of toddler Awaab Ishak treated residents in ‘dismissive, inappropriate or unsympathetic’ ways, Ombudsman says. |
Ombudsman warns councils ‘not getting it right’ on homelessness
21/03/2023 Vulnerable people are facing homelessness because some councils are ‘still not getting it right’, according to the local government ombudsman. |
Suffolk CC warned again about poor alternative education provision
16/03/2023 The local government ombudsman has issued another warning to Suffolk County Council to improve provision for children who can’t go to school. |
London boroughs taken to task over housing failings
06/03/2023 Haringey and Lambeth LBCs have pledged to take action to address housing shortcomings. |
Birmingham City Council to review respite care complaints process
02/03/2023 Birmingham is to review the way it responds to complaints about respite care for children with disabilities after it told families to appeal to the Ombudsman. |
Social care users ‘failed’ by complaints system, watchdog says
28/02/2023 Adults attempting to challenge social care decisions made by councils are ‘being failed’, the national equalities watchdog has said. |
Essex County Council pays £150 after autistic care failure
28/02/2023 Essex CC paid a woman £150 after the Ombudsman found it had failed to ensure there was a smooth transition in her autistic son's care when they moved. |
