London Borough of Bexley
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
79% Complaints upheld by London Borough of Bexley
79% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 85% in similar authorities.
15 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Bexley's population, this is
6.1 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.The average for authorities of this type is
8.2 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.Statistics are based on a total of 19 investigations for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
100% of cases were successfully implemented by London Borough of Bexley
100% of cases we were satisfied the Council had successfully implemented our recommendations.
This compares to an average of 99% in similar authorities.
Statistics are based on a total of 9 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
20% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by London Borough of Bexley
In 20% of upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
This compares to an average of 12% in similar authorities.
3 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 15 upheld decisions for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
View all satisfactory remedy decisions
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports ?Find out more about reports
In the last nine years, the Ombudsman has published the following reports against London Borough of Bexley
London council to revise its social care charging policy following Ombudsman’s investigation
London Borough of Bexley has agreed to revise its social care charging policy after a man complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman about the way the authority increased its costs.
Bexley council failed to learn from previous school transport complaints
London Borough of Bexley has been heavily criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after it failed to make agreed improvements to the way it decides school transport applications for children with disabilities.
Service improvements ?Find out more about service improvements
Since April 2018, the Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation. We list up to 10 cases below – click ‘view all’ if there are more.
Case reference: 23 017 237
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Private housing
- The Council has agreed to review its procedures for communicating with landlords when considering applications for housing assistance from tenants served with notice to leave their accommodation.
- The Council has agreed to remind officers of its process and timescales for completing its complaints procedure.
Case reference: 23 014 095
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Looked after children
- The Council will remind relevant staff that a lack of consent from a young person does not automatically prevent it from considering a relevant complaint through the children’s statutory complaint procedure; and where a young person has refused consent to share their information the test is whether the child is Gillick competent to make that decision, and whether it is in their best interest.
Case reference: 23 011 120
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any areas of service improvement, particularly in respect of assessment of persons leaving custody and assessment of priority need. The Council should prepare a short report setting out what it intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.
Case reference: 23 006 830
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council will provide refresher training to all housing and homelessness staff, including managers, on the Council’s interim accommodation duty and relief duty.
- The Council will make sure all staff in the housing and homelessness department know they must keep proper, contemporaneous records of all of their communications and actions.
- The Council will share a copy of this decision and the Ombudsman’s focus report (‘More Home Truths: learning lessons from complaints about the Homelessness Reduction Act’ published March 2023) with all housing and homelessness staff, including managers, and discuss them at a team meeting.
Case reference: 23 004 636
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council agreed to review its processes for referring young people approaching adulthood, who have special educational needs or are receiving children's social care support, to its adult social care team for an assessment of their needs as an adult. It should ensure referrals are made promptly and it has systems in place to identify missed referrals.
Case reference: 23 009 268
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to remind staff dealing with homelessness cases of the importance of considering if the Council owes a duty to help prevent loss or damage to a person's belongings.
Case reference: 23 007 822
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- The Council has agreed to inform us of the improvements it has made to its processes to ensure such delays do not recur.
Case reference: 23 007 757
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind staff that most annual reviews of Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans should be held within 12 months of the previous annual review, not the previous EHC Plan.
Case reference: 23 007 558
Category: Planning
Sub Category: Planning applications
- The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to staff handling complaints about compliance with the Council’s complaints procedure.
Case reference: 22 015 782
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will introduce a policy on Personal Budgets in the Education Health and Care plans which would include information specified in the SEND Code of Practice 2014 paragraph 9.96.
- The Council will consider introducing a template letter for negative Personal Budget decisions which informs people of their right to ask for a review of the decision.
- The Council will prepare a plan of improvements in monitoring timeliness of the Education Health and Care needs reassessments.
Last updated: 4 April 2015