Ombudsman probe reveals ‘defensive’ complaint-handling culture at London council

During the investigation, the ombudsman found that a leaseholder waited 2,337 days for a response to their complaint about renovation works.

It also found that a resident with arthritis and other health needs experienced outages to a lift totalling an estimated 686 days out of the 1,051 he had lived in his home.

As the the council did not consider a temporary move, despite having received complaints about the lift, the resident moved into a wooden shack without heating or hot water, the ombudsman said.

Camden has now found the resident long-term, permanent accommodation.

The ombudsman also found “documents containing dismissive tones that run the risk of discouraging the acknowledgement of valid complaints”.

The agency said: “Although the landlord may not have intended to appear dismissive of resident complaints, its practices and communications created a perception of a defensive culture,” it said.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “The landlord needs to understand why several opportunities are missed to put things right, which may leave residents living in unsuitable and avoidable conditions.

“To build trust and ensure residents’ voices are genuinely heard, comprehensive training and a strategic shift towards proactive, respectful engagement are imperative as the landlord continues to improve its services.”

The ombudsman said it welcomed improvements Camden had introduced during the investigation.

However it said the landlord needed to take further action, as there are still complaints where issues are unresolved.

It made recommendations for improvement in three key areas: complaint-handling, disrepair and vulnerable residents.

Actions Camden should take include fostering a culture “that values complaint-handling”, improving accuracy in repairs and complaints record-keeping, and a review of its approach to vulnerability and reasonable adjustments.

In a statement, the council said: “The cases covered in the report are generally from 2022 or earlier – since then we have changed and improved many aspects of our services. We have more work to do, and we have comprehensive plans in place that will deliver further improvements.

“We will go above and beyond the ambitions set out by the ombudsman’s recommendations and we will ensure that considerations about our residents are at the centre of our work.”

It has also set up a housing and property residents panel and a complaints and oversight panel.

This week, residents of a 19-storey Camden Council-owned tower block that developed a crack returned home after an assessment found that the building was “structurally sound”.