London Borough of Enfield
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
88% Complaints upheld by London Borough of Enfield
88% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 85% in similar authorities.
28 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for London Borough of Enfield's population, this is
8.6 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 32 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 Enfield
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 24 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
7% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by London Borough of Enfield
In 7% 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.
2 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 28 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 Enfield
Enfield family left in unsuitable accommodation for three years
A disabled dad and his family were left in mouldy, mouse-infested temporary accommodation, despite Enfield council accepting it was not suitable for their needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
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: 24 011 503
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- Remind the telephone team to inform other relevant teams, including the Resources team and the Digital team, as soon as possible if it experiences problems in accessing its systems.
Case reference: 24 010 166
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Council tax
- The Council has agreed to review whether any improvements can be made to its case management system to alert staff if customers are calling multiple times and there is anoutstanding call back required.
Case reference: 24 004 238
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- Further to the events covered by this complaint the Council had begun a review of its adult safeguarding procedures. It agreed that it would update us on what consideration this review gave to the time taken to complete adult safeguarding enquiries. It would also share any recommendations arising from that review designed to reduce or avoid delays in completing such enquiries, such as were present in this case (where enquiries took more than 12 months to complete).
- The Council also agreed to incorporate into that review, or undertake a separate piece of work, on its current arrangements for communicating with relatives when it undertakes safeguarding enquiries. It would review current advice given to practitioners and if this was sufficiently robust as to its expectations, and consider if it needed to brief them further on its expectations in this area. This followed a failure by the Council to inform the complainant in this case of the outcome of its enquiries, despite involving them in the initial stages of its investigation.
- The Council agreed that its contracting team would review any placements currently open for users of services at a named care home, to check the safety and suitability of their care. In particular, if any of those users required mouth care or feeding via a PEG tube, after investigation revealed significant failings in the care the complainant's father received in meeting those needs.
Case reference: 24 003 954
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind relevant Special Educational Needs and Disability staff that the Council has a duty to secure the specialist provision in an Education, Health and Care Plan (section 42 Children and Families Act), not just tuition, when it has accepted an alternative provision duty (Section 19 Education Act) for a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan who is not attending school.
Case reference: 24 003 200
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Council was at fault because it took 10 months to issue a Deferred Payment Agreement. It will review the time taken from the Deferred Payment Agreement request to issuing the Agreement contract to determine what caused delays and what action can be taken to reduce such delays in future.
Case reference: 24 000 829
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Within three months of the decision, the Council will review its process of reviewing EHC plans in accordance with its duties. It will refresh the knowledge of all relevant staff to ensure they are aware of the Council’s duties regarding EHC plan reviews generally, and specifically where the child or young person is transferring from their placement. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
Case reference: 24 000 137
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Housing team and Adult Social Care team should clarify what supporting evidence applicants need from Adult Social Care Services when asking the Council for an additional bedroom as per the allocations policy, and how applicants can go about obtaining this.
Case reference: 23 021 072
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- Identify and implement learning from this complaint to improve the time taken to address disrepairs and communication between the Council and its residents.
Case reference: 23 021 012
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed that it will issue a checklist to relevant staff to ensure they always deal with the issue of an applicant’s belongings when they move from their home into interim hotel accommodation and are unable to take their belongings with them.
Case reference: 23 020 377
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council should send written reminders to relevant Housing staff that if 56 days have passed since it accepted the relief duty to an applicant, and no suitable accommodation offer has been made, it should accept the main housing duty to meet statutory timescales.
- The Council should send written reminders to relevant Housing staff that case officers should carry out and record thorough assessments of any support needs household members may have when considering the suitability of interim accommodation it places families in.
Last updated: 4 April 2015