Haringey has been dubbed England’s “most rotten borough,” as new data reveals it has the highest number of upheld complaints per capita for the second year in a row.
Data taken from the Local Government Ombudsman and published by the Liberal Democrats, has shown there were 20.2 complaints made on average per 100,000 population.
Nine of the 11 worst local authorities are London boroughs, according to the population-adjusted figures, with Lambeth coming in second with 18.4 complaints per 100,000 residents and Kensington and Chelsea coming in third with 18.3 complaints per 100,000 residents.
Haringey has topped the list for the second year running, with 264 complaints about the council making their way to the Ombudsman — two every three days.
More than 3% of all complaints about council housing nationally were in Haringey, while 87% of complaints investigated by the Ombudsman in Haringey were upheld, compared to 84% across London.
Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison , leader of the opposition in Haringey, said the data is “embarrassing” for the local authority.
“This report is yet another embarrassment to Labour-run Haringey,” he said.
“Despite topping the complaints charts last year, Labour’s stewardship of our borough continues to let down residents again and again, with performance levels actually declining, not improving.”
It comes as Haringey Council declared a “funding emergency” earlier this year and warned that it is facing “untold pressure” following “more than a decade of government austerity”.
The council says it receives 15% less per resident than the England average.
A finance report, considered by Cabinet last week, highlighted a projected deficit of £38 million at the end of the year despite the council making efficiency savings of £12.9 million.
The finance report shows costs of adult social care have risen by 20% more than the predicted budgeted to £95.5 million, while temporary accommodations cost increased by 42% to £33 million.
Funding from government is around £143 million less in real terms than in 2010, the council says, despite spiralling costs and demands.
Councillor Seema Chandwani, Haringey Council cabinet member for resident services and tackling inequality, said: “We acknowledge the findings from the report and take this matter extremely seriously.
“Haringey, like every local authority, is dealing with a high volume of complaints, but we remain fully committed to improving how we deal with these issues and provide a timely response.
“We dealt with more than 4000 complaints last year and only 61 of them were investigated by the Ombudsman but we are determined to bring this number down.
“Residents are rightly frustrated by services that are not always able to meet their expectations, but this is caused by systemic underfunding of local government.
“Despite the challenges we are determined to make things right and provide the best service so we can resolve cases more quickly moving forward.”
