Lewisham council rebuked by Local Government Ombudsman for failures

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has raised serious concerns about Lewisham council’s handling of complaints in a letter sent to the council’s chief executive, after the ombudsman’s annual review.

Between 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 (when Lewisham was still run by the Labour party) the ombudsman received 215 complaints relating to Lewisham council, a steep increase from 174 complaints in the previous year. 

Of the 215 complaints, the ombudsman ruled that 88 cases did not need to be looked into.  A further 75 cases were assessed and closed and 52 fully investigated, an increase from 42 cases investigations the previous year.

Lewisham council’s performance

The ombudsman recognised that in general Lewisham council responded to its investigations in a timely manner; however it identified concerns about the quality of information provided in seven cases, which included "large volumes of unstructured documentation, missing key documents and evidence of poor local complaint handling."

The letter explains that this can "hinder our investigations, delay the resolution of complaints and place unnecessary demands on both organisations".

The ombudsman further rebukes Lewisham council for its repeated failure to comply with agreed recommendations, highlighting that the council failed to provide evidence of compliance within agreed timescales, in more than a third of cases.

It says that in some instances, delays affected "personal remedies such as apologies and payments, resulting in in unnecessary waiting and added frustration for complainants".

The ombudsman draws attention to a case of non-compliance which resulted in them registering a new complaint, which they describe as “a rare and disappointing step”.  

They confirm that there is 100% compliance with its recommendations in similar authorities, but found a recurring issue of non-compliance at Lewisham council.

The letter states: "Given that non-compliance has also been recorded in 2024, 2022 and 2021, this suggest a systemic issue in how the council oversees our recommendations and prioritises complaints.

"These issues have been raised in previous letters, and it is concerning that any actions taken to date have not led to sustained improvement."

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Real lives behind the complaints

Behind the statistics, it is important to remember the seriousness of the grievances and the treatment faced by some complainants that turn to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in desperation.

The ombudsman has published seven case reports about Lewisham council over the last 10 years, relating to some of the most serious cases they have investigated.

They provide an insight into how poor administration can impact some of borough’s most vulnerable residents.  Reports are published on selected investigations where there is a wider public interest to do so.

Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with the ombudsman’s recommendations.

The most recently published report relates to the case of a child that had to live in damp and mouldy accommodation miles away from their hospital, because Lewisham council left it too late to find their homeless family accommodation in the borough.

The child, who was immuno-compromised and facing two years of hospital treatment, needed to live in accommodation without mould or damp issues, with no shared facilities and within the borough, to be near to their hospital for treatment.

Despite the council’s own assessment alerting it to the family’s needs, the council left them in their private accommodation until a week before bailiffs evicted them, leaving insufficient time to find them suitable, alternative accommodation. 

A further report from 2024 relates to a case where Lewisham council agreed to pay a mother more than £14,000 in compensation after it left her in such poorly maintained temporary accommodation that her child was hospitalised.  

The ombudsman Amerdeep Somal, said at the time: “I was appalled by what has gone on here. This mother and her children have had two horrendous years, being bounced around different accommodation by London Borough of Lewisham.

“She has told us of repeated instances where she did not know where she would be staying from one night to another, and on one occasion she and her children had to sleep in her car because the council did not tell her where to go until late at night.

“In all the family were moved between accommodation around 20 times, including stays in hotels without cots or facilities to prepare milk for the baby, and in one case they were exposed to a dangerous police incident.

“One property was so riddled with damp and mould that her youngest child was hospitalised. This is no way for anyone to live, let alone a woman with small children.

“I am pleased the council has held its hands up to what has gone wrong here and accepted my recommendations to put things right.”

Increase in complaints across England

While the performance of each council varies in its delivery of services and handling of complaints, there are some national trends.  The rise in complaints that the ombudsman received relating to Lewisham council reflects a national trend.

There was a 33% rise in complaints made to the ombudsman about English authorities over the past year, more than doubling the 16% rise recorded in the previous year.   Across England, complaints about benefits and council tax rose fastest, growing by 65% following by increases in complaints about housing (46%) and children's services (41%).  

In its annual review of English councils, the ombudsman suggests that the sweeping programme of local government reorganisation and devolution that is now in progress could provide an opportunity to break down the barriers that have held back joined-up delivery of public services for decades.  

They also highlighted independent research from the University of Manchester, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which found that many of the problems driving complaints were rooted in national systemic failures, including inadequate funding and chronic shortages of educational psychologists.

Details of the latest and previous annual review letters sent to Lewisham council by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman are available here.

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