A Housing Ombudsman inspection report has found that despite a council’s improvements, the efforts haven’t been “seen and felt by its residents”.

An inspection of Lambeth Council was launched by the ombudsman after it remained dissatisfied at information provided by the landlord in response to its orders about complaint handling.

The inspection allowed the ombudsman to hear from complaint handling staff directly and understand the pressures the council is facing, as well as identify inconsistencies in handling complaint effectively.

The inspection found a lack of consistency in various aspects of the landlord’s complaint handling, including in how it lodged complaints, with timescales being outside of compliance with the ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, and some complaints being dealt with by a separate ‘members enquiries’ process.

Furthermore, several members of staff told the ombudsman different things about the same processes of closing complaints.

Whilst 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, the landlord is currently not resourced to adequately respond to the complaints it is handling through its existing process, the ombudsman says.

The inspection also found a need for the landlord to refocus on the reoccurring issues that lead to complaints coming to the ombudsman.

Richard Blakeway, 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 channeling 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.

“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.”

In its learning statement, Lambeth Council said: “We welcome this report by the Housing Ombudsman following an inspection that took place in October last year. The council engaged fully with the inspection team and we have used this process to positively identify areas of improvement in our services to residents. We accept the findings and commit 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.

“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.

“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.

“This work has seen overdue complaints reduce from 2,283 in April 2022 to 154 in November 2023, and this improvement has been recognised by the ombudsman report. It also highlights that we have improved performance so that 90% of appointments and 72% of repairs are carried out on time – though we are clear that these numbers need to increase further. 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 underway and it will continue.

“Improving our housing services for residents is a top priority for the council, as we are one of the largest council landlords in the country. However, the scale and condition of our housing stock, much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s, makes this very challenging, particularly when government policy has moved away from investing in improving social housing.

“We are fully committed to improving all the homes that the council manages, but record construction inflation, government funding cuts and restrictions on council income all make that much harder. We will continue to lobby the government to invest in good, warm, affordable and sustainable homes, while carrying out the improvements necessary to deliver a better service for Lambeth residents.”

Read the full report here.