Southwark Council forced to apologise by ombudsman after failing to respond to reports of homophobic abuse and anti-social behaviour
After an investigation, the ombudsman found that the Council failed to properly investigate reports of a noise nuisance and homophobic abuse by a neighbour.
The resident, referred to as ‘Mr X’, made repeated complaints from January 2021 to February 2022 but the council consistently failed to respond appropriately.
Mr X claimed to ordeal affected his mental and physical health as well as his ability to work.
The ombudsman’s investigation found that “Council failed to respond to Mr X’s concerns in April and in August which led Mr X to make a formal complaint”. The agreed action was for Southwark to “apologise to Mr X”.
Research from LGSCO has revealed that councils are failing to effectively deal with anti-social behaviour, with 74% of all related complaints being upheld.
The new report states that people are “suffering” because local authorities are not using, or do not understand, the powers they have to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark is calling on the council to undertake a full review of the response to anti-social behaviour to ensure all available powers are being used effectively.
Commenting, Southwark Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:
“The details of this case are appalling. For the council to ignore complaints that include homophobic abuse is completely unacceptable and needs to be full investigated internally. The recent attack in Clapham shows us how real the danger to those in the LGBTQ+ community is, and how important it is for these cases to be taken seriously.
The ombudsman’s findings in Southwark and across the country show that anti-social behaviour is damaging our communities, but local authorities are not tackling it effectively. We are calling on Southwark to initiate a full review to find to ensure they are using all powers available to them to help people suffering from anti-social behaviour.”