Residents still receive ‘unacceptable service’ from council over housing complaints, says ombudsman

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Too many Lambeth residents are still receiving an ‘unacceptable service’ from the council, the Housing Ombudsman (HO) has said, following its inspection of the local authority. 

Despite improvements in the Labour-led council’s handling of housing complaints, the HO said these advances had yet to be ‘seen and felt’ by residents. 

The comments were made in a report published yesterday by the HO about how the council deals with complaints. 

The report was produced after the HO inspected the council in-person – the first time it has ever done this to a local authority.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, took the unprecedented move last year after noticing residents bringing the same complaints against the council, even after the HO had already ordered the local authority to resolve the problems. 

The HO was also dissatisfied with information the council had provided to it about how it dealt with recurring complaints .

The new report praises the council for reducing the number of overdue complaints from 2,283 in April 2022 to just 154 in November 2023. 

But it said Lambeth staff were dealing with too many complaints to be able to resolve them quickly enough.

Complaint handlers at the council are supposed to deal with an average of 25 complaints each, but the HO found some members of staff were dealing with a case load more than double that figure. 

It also said staff gave conflicting opinions on the council’s approach to resolving complaints. 

Some staff told the HO that complaints were closed as soon as a response was issued, while others said they left complaints open until repairs were completed. 

Mr Blakeway said: “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. Effective complaint handling is a core component of rebuilding trust with residents.

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

A spokesman for Lambeth council said: “Improving our housing services for residents is a top priority for the council. 

“We’re pleased that the ombudsman has recognised that the council has made significant changes to remedy past failings. 

“The report acknowledges the ‘significant transformation’ that has taken place in the past 12 months and recognised the introduction of a ‘culture of accountability and ownership’ in our services at all levels.

“We have made changes to senior leadership, introduced more robust governance arrangements, reviewed all high-risk complaints and put in place better lines of communication between complaints staff, neighbourhood officers and repairs contractors to help ensure we can remedy repairs as quickly as possible.”

Pictured top: Lambeth town hall in Brixton (Picture: Robert Firth)