Hackney Council Faces Rising Complaints, Housing Issues Top List

Hackney Council is facing increased scrutiny as complaints surge, particularly concerning housing-related issues. The Hackney Council Scrutiny Panel reviewed the Hackney Council Complaints and Member Enquiries Annual Report 2024/2025 on Monday 6 October 2025, revealing a significant rise in complaints across various council services. The report indicates that the increase in housing-related complaints primarily reflects dissatisfaction with the repair of Council homes, specifically matters not being resolved and significant delays¹.

The number of stage 1 complaints saw a slight uptick, while stage 2 complaints jumped by 57% compared to the previous year. A particularly concerning trend is the 39% rise in Housing Ombudsman investigations.

Here's a breakdown of the complaint volumes:

Type	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	Target Response Time (Working Days)
Stage 1 complaints	2,485	3,863	5,384	5,349	5,670	10 (Housing), 15 (Other Services)
Stage 2 complaints	186	253	344	518	*814	20
Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman cases	20	22	28	28	26	N/A
Housing Ombudsman cases	22	16	24	71	99	N/A
Members Enquiries	2,035	3,917	4,193	3,399	4,140	N/A
Mayor & Cabinet Enquiries	2,647	1,552	1,592	1,670	1,996	N/A

Adding to the council's challenges, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Annual Review Letter 24-25 pointed out delays in implementing recommendations. Seven of the ten cases where recommendations were not completed within the agreed timescales involved a delay of over 15 days, most of which involved some area of policy review or service improvement. The services involved in the delays have been advised, and the council is encouraged to engage with the LGSCO at the draft decision stage to ensure timeframes are realistic and achievable.

The letter stated:

Your Council agreed to, and implemented, the recommendations we made in 18 cases, but in ten of these cases, the recommendations were not completed within the agreed timescales. Seven of these cases involved a delay of over 15 days, most of which involved some area of policy review or service improvement.

Furthermore, a significant portion of Member Casework, almost three-quarters (72%), revolved around Environment & Climate Change (31.6%), Housing Services (26.4%), and Benefits & Homeless Prevention Service (16.1%). The Member Casework Team has prioritized engagement with these service areas to offer support, identify ways of working collaboratively, and manage demands. Engagement is ongoing, with regular reporting and meetings to ensure continuous review and improvement.

The Hackney's Corporate Strategic Risk Register identifies key risks to the council, such as financial stability, cyber security, and pressures on temporary accommodation. To mitigate financial risks, the council plans to identify, implement, monitor, and resource significant expenditure reductions; implement spend control measures; review the capital program; and seek ways to generate additional income. To address pressures on temporary accommodation, the council plans to utilize 100% of all regeneration voids as additional temporary accommodation, make the best use of the provision of discharge of duty into the private rented sector, observe the pan London cap on nightly paid accommodation procurement, and provide appropriate accommodation with support for mental and physical needs.

The service standard for responding to complaints at stage 1 is 10 working days for those in the Housing service and 15 working days for all other Council services (which changes to 10 working days from April 2026). For stage 2 complaints, the target is 20 working days. However, according to the Complaints Annual Report 2024/25, only Parking and Revenues respond within target timescales on average for Stage 1 complaints. The Central Housing Complaints Team (CHCT) and Environmental Service are significantly overtime against their respective targets. For Stage 2 complaints, the 20-day target is not being met.

The cost of staff dealing with complaints across the Council is met from within the relevant revenue budgets, as are any compensation payments made, according to the Item 4a Cover Report 24-25 Complaints Enquiries AR. The cost of complaints monitoring is met within the approved revenue budget of the Business Analysis and Complaints Team. Such costs, however, can be minimised by ensuring that complaints are dealt with successfully at the first stage, thus reducing the numbers that proceed to later stages.