Barking and Dagenham Council has agreed to pay £1,200 in compensation to a resident following a critical report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) concerning the handling of a housing case.
The LGO found fault causing injustice to a resident, referred to as Mr X, due to the council's handling of his housing application and an occupational therapy (OT) assessment for his son, Y.
The mishandling of Mr. X's housing application and the delay in his OT assessment stemmed from several factors. The council failed to properly explain its decision regarding Mr. X's priority banding on the housing register and neglected to inform him of his right to request a review of this decision. The council accepted this finding, acknowledging that its September 2024 decision letter rejecting the request for overriding priority did not adequately explain why the household did not qualify for overriding priority and did not include the correct route of appeal for the family to follow. This omission meant Mr. X could not understand the council's reasons for refusal and was unable to request a review of the decision. When challenged, the council took too long to reconsider its decision.
Furthermore, the council delayed carrying out an OT assessment for Mr. X's son, Y. An assessment was requested in May 2024, but the council did not complete it until December 2024, a delay of five months. This meant Y had a major operation before the assessment was done.
In late June 2024, when informed that Mr. X's property was no longer suitable for occupation due to practical issues with mobility equipment, overcrowding, and health and safety risks, the council should have made inquiries into whether Mr. X was homeless or threatened with homelessness. The council failed to do this, which was deemed a fault. According to the council's position at the time, the OT report did not conclude that it was unreasonable or impossible for the family to remain in the current home until the council found alternative accommodation. However, the LGO found this to be fault, stating that the threshold for making inquiries is low and Ms Z's email informing the council of the unsuitable housing and asking the council to find accommodation met this threshold. The Ombudsman concluded that the council should have made inquiries into what housing duties it owed Mr. X and his household.
The council has accepted the findings in full and has already issued an apology and paid the compensation. In addition to the financial remedy, the council has committed to several remedial actions.
The review of housing options for Mr. X involved a caseworker from the Homelessness Prevention service arranging a visit on June 16th to discuss his housing situation and all available options. A homeless application was also created on the database. At the time of the report, the visit had yet to take place, and the information does not state whether Mr. X has been rehoused or received suitable alternative accommodation. It is noted that Mr. X has maintained that he still does not want to go into temporary accommodation and wishes to continue on the housing application list.
Regarding action plans to address the backlog of OT assessments, the council has focused on recruiting to hard-to-fill OT posts, maintaining a relatively stable workforce, and commissioned additional assessment capacity. Two Occupational Therapists have been placed in the front door
team to provide earlier support and prioritization. These actions have led to a significant reduction in both waiting list numbers and waiting times, with the longest wait now just over two months. The council is continuing to reduce this through earlier intervention and better resource utilization. Waiting times are reported regularly to the Adults Assurance Board for oversight.
Detailed action plans for the three-month deadlines (which were September 3, 2026) will be in place. For homeless applications, a small group of managers has been established to develop the plan and put in place mechanisms to review its effectiveness. A process will be created to review OT reports and other evidence from housing register applicants to determine if they should be treated as effectively homeless. A procedure note and revised guidance to staff will be issued by the end of August. Additionally, an officer is tasked with producing a full 'Lessons Learned' report to design out
the specific failures identified by the LGO.
The Audit and Risk Committee, which reviewed the LGO's report and the council's action plan on July 1, 2026, noted the findings and the steps being taken to address them. The council confirmed that all actions requiring completion within one month have been finalised, and detailed action plans for three-month deadlines will be in place by September 3, 2026.
Councillor Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Housing, Adult Social Care and Health, was in attendance for this item, and John Knight, Director of Housing, presented the report. The council has accepted the LGO's recommendations and is implementing them to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.
Public reports pack Wednesday 01-Jul-2026 19.00 Audit and Risk Committee Agenda frontsheet Wednesday 01-Jul-2026 19.00 Audit and Risk Committee
