Ombudsman finds residents have not ‘felt’ Lambeth Council’s improvements

The ombudsman said that good progress has been made in some parts of the complaint-handling, for example reducing overdue complaints from 2,283 in April 2022 to 154 in November 2023.

However, it said that the council is currently “not resourced to adequately respond to the complaints it is handling through its existing process”.

“This means the landlord’s efforts to respond adequately to complaints 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,” the ombudsman said.

The inspection also revealed a need for Lambeth Council to refocus on the “reoccurring issues” that result in complaints coming to the ombudsman. This included not fulfilling its commitments made at stage two and not recognising the full impact of its failings and providing appropriate redress.

“The landlord’s focus on the volume of outstanding complaints also means its approach to learning from complaints and root cause analysis is underdeveloped,” the ombudsman said.

“Due to the clear link between the landlord’s approach to repairs and its complaint-handling performance, the inspection also made recommendations around this, including making sure repairs records are more robust and consider vulnerabilities.”

Lambeth Council also carried out its own internal review following the ombudsman’s investigation and has built on some of the findings. This was welcomed by the ombudsman.

The ombudsman said it will continue to hold the landlord to account through its casework and will review the landlord’s performance in its next annual report, which is produced for all landlords for which the ombudsman handles several complaints. 

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, 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. 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.

“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.”

Mr Blakeway said that there are “already positive signs” as 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,” he said.

“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.”

Lambeth Council’s response

Lambeth Council welcomed the report by the ombudsman and said it “fully” engaged with the inspection team and has used the process to “positively” identify areas of improvement in its services to residents.

The council accepted the findings and committed to delivering the recommendations within three months.

“We have apologised for the failings identified in the complaints that led to this inspection and have fixed the issues that impacted residents as well as paying compensation to them,” Lambeth Council said.

“In the last year, the council has worked intensively with the Housing Ombudsman and with residents to improve the way we respond to complaints and tackle any issues raised, to ensure we provide the best possible service to all tenants and leaseholders.

“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 last 12 months and recognised the introduction of a ‘culture of accountability and ownership’ in our services at all levels.”

Lambeth Council has made changes to its senior leadership, introduced more robust governance arrangements and reviewed all high-risk complaints.

The council said it has also implemented better lines of communication between complaints staff, neighbourhood officers and repairs contractors to help ensure it can remedy repairs as quickly as possible.

This work saw overdue complaints reduce from 2,283 in April 2022 to 154 in November 2023, as recognised in the ombudsman report.

“We know there is much still to do to deliver the quality and consistency of services that residents deserve, but the improvements recognised in this report show that that work is under way, and it will continue,” Lambeth Council said.