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London council apologises to child with damp and mould allergy for ‘disrespectful’ service failings
A London council has apologised after the Housing Ombudsman found five severe cases of maladministration that included a child with a damp and mould allergy breaking out in eczema after a leak in the bathroom.
The ombudsman has called for Lambeth Council to “radically improve” and expressed concern for how its actions were at times disrespectful of residents and lacked empathy for the impact of its service failures.
The five severe maladministration findings are across three cases and come a year after the publication of the ombudsman’s special report into the landlord.
The report from March last year revealed how another resident had complained about leaks, damp and mould for years.
The ombudsman said that it has since held constructive meetings with senior leadership about embedding change and that these cases will form part of that learning.
Of these three new cases, one involved the landlord failing to carry out necessary repair works after mould formed from a leak in the bathroom of a resident who had a child with a damp and mould allergy.
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The resident reported that the delay led to her child’s skin cracking and bleeding due to an eczema flare up caused by the issue.
The second case was related to how the landlord dealt with adaptations works, including the quality of works and the conduct of its contractors.
Nearly one year after an occupational therapist carried out a survey to set out how to make the resident’s ground floor an appropriate living space, work started but the contractors left the resident for three weeks without a functioning bath or shower.
The resident was also left with a bucket of water to flush away any waste from the toilet, and there were no taps on the basins in the bathroom.
The landlord did not have a policy in relation to adaptations and the ombudsman ordered the chief executive of the council to personally apologise to the resident and for an action plan to be undertaken for the delivery of the adaptations.
In the last case, a boiler repair should have happened under the landlord’s policy within seven days but was not seen to for months, and included several missed appointments as well as visits being made without the resident being aware.
When an operative did arrive and complete some of the repair, it took the boiler fuse and left the resident without heating and hot water for a significant period during winter months.
In response to the ombudsman’s findings, learnings identified by the landlord include carrying out extensive surveying of its homes, sponsoring a disrepair arbitration scheme to help residents get issues sorted fairly, and speeding up visibility of complaints with frontline teams.
It has also paid out more than £4,000 in compensation in total across the three cases, and has apologised to the residents in each case.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “These three cases show both common points of failure and failures across several service areas, which the landlord has vowed to put right.
“The distress and inconvenience experienced by its residents was considerable, and some actions were disrespectful of residents and lacked empathy for the impact on them. It is critical for the landlord to make changes to prevent similar failings affecting other residents.
“This requires strong leadership and a corporate focus on driving change, creating a culture that does not tolerate these sorts of failures.
“I recognise it will take time to embed change and expect it to continue to use the learning from our special report and these cases to radically improve services for residents.”
Mr Blakeway also encouraged other landlords to consider the learning the cases offer for their own services.
In response, Lambeth Council said: “By focusing on the themes and insights highlighted by the ombudsman, we ensure we are continually listening to our residents and ensuring we learn valuable lessons and improve our services as a result.
“In the three cases identified by the Housing Ombudsman today, we fully accept that the service we provided fell below our usual standards. We have apologised to the tenants for this and, in line with the judgement, we have paid compensation in recognition of the inconvenience and frustration these tenants have experienced. We have also resolved the original problems reported at each property.”
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