Too many residents of a London council ‘still receiving an unacceptable service’, ombudsman finds

The ombudsman found a “lack of consistency” in various aspects of Lambeth Council’s complaint-handling, including in how it lodged complaints, with timescales being outside of compliance with the complaint-handling code, and some complaints being dealt with by a separate ‘members enquiries’ process.

Several staff members told the ombudsman different things about the same processes of closing complaints.

The watchdog found good progress was made in some parts of complaint-handling, including a reduction of overdue complaints from 2,283 in April 2022 to 154 in November 2023.

But it found that the council is currently not resourced enough to adequately respond to complaints through its existing process, meaning the its efforts “will only ever go so far”. 

“Unless addressed, residents will continue to have to contact the landlord several times to be heard and face unacceptable delays to complaints,” it concluded. 

The inspection found a need for the council to refocus on the reoccurring issues that lead to complaints coming to the ombudsman, including not fulfilling its commitments made at stage two and not recognising the full impact of its failings and providing appropriate compensation. 

It also found that the council’s focus on the volume of outstanding complaints “also means its approach to learning from complaints and root cause analysis is underdeveloped”.

Housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “This inspection happened because two residents had to seek the ombudsman’s intervention more than once to resolve complaints that we had previously upheld. The landlord must ensure this is not repeated.

“There are still too many residents receiving an unacceptable service. 

“Indeed, the frustration of some residents was palpable at a meet the ombudsman session the landlord hosted.”

He stated that effective complaint-handling is a “core component” of rebuilding trust with residents.

“By improving its learning from complaints and channelling its efforts into truly understanding the driving factors behind its complaints, the landlord will give itself every chance of improving,” he explained. 

Mr Blakeway added: “We commend the leadership of the landlord for the focus it has brought to resolving the problems which have beset it. 

“The landlord has introduced a culture of accountability and ownership and a solid platform to now go further.

“There are already positive signs. The ombudsman has not issued the landlord with a complaint-handling failure order in over six months, having issued five last year.

“However, the steps the landlord has taken have yet to result in a more consistently positive resident experience.

“Crucially, the landlord needs to guard against what happens once the increased focus it currently has on its complaints and repairs services is removed. 

“A transition to business as usual will bring with it risks of a return to the unacceptable performance seen in recent years.

“The landlord will need to put in place measures to identify and act on any decline in standards as early as possible.”

The report made several recommendations, including for the council to review its approach to root cause analysis of complaints to make it more robust and effective. 

It should also review its process for recording completed repairs to ensure it has a clear repair record, which the resident agrees with. 

The council should make sure the solution accommodates vulnerable residents, the ombudsman said. 

In a statement, included in full below, Lambeth Council said it accepts the findings and is committed to delivering the recommendations within three months.