Harrow Council’s Conservative administration is facing mounting outrage after yet another wave of damning rulings from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO), the courts, and regulators.
Critics say the council has shown a long-standing disregard for some of its most vulnerable residents – from disabled children and adults to struggling families in unsuitable housing.
The failures are not new. Since at least the mid-2000s, Harrow’s Conservative administration has been repeatedly found guilty of maladministration, unlawful decision-making, and outright neglect of duty. High-profile cases included unlawful cuts to adult care services in 2007 and compensation orders over botched school mergers in 2009.
Fast-forward to today, and the pattern has only worsened.
In August 2025, the LGO found Harrow Council had forced a registered blind man and his family to endure avoidable years in unsuitable housing, awarding them over £6,000 in compensation.
In July 2025, the Ombudsman ruled the council failed to follow procedure over a disabled child’s respite care, despite repeated reminders.
In April 2025, Ofsted rated the council’s children’s services “inadequate,” prompting the Department for Education to slap Harrow with an official improvement notice.
In June 2023, Harrow Council was compelled by a court to provide suitable housing for a family with a severely disabled child who had been in unsuitable temporary accommodation for almost a year.
Between 2023 and 2024, case after case revealed missed special educational needs provision, delays to legally required education plans, botched care assessments, and unsafe housing conditions, including 3,500 uninspected homes with outstanding electrical safety risks.
The administration that gives a sense of being more on the right has often responded defensively, portraying its governance as part of a broader ‘reassurance that Harrow belongs in Britain’ – but residents say this rhetoric masks systemic neglect and calculated disregard for those without political power.
Local campaigners argue the council’s priorities are clear: political messaging first, people last. Vulnerable residents are left waiting months, even years, for the services and support they are legally entitled to. Families are routinely offered token compensation while systemic failures go unaddressed.
As one critic put it, ‘What happens in macro, happens in micro’ – Harrow council Conservative administration reflects its party that seems more interested in political positioning nearing Reform UK than in caring for ordinary people.
With watchdogs continuing to expose failure after failure, pressure is growing for accountability. But so far, Harrow’s Conservative administration appears more concerned with damage control than genuine reform.
Critics say the council has shown a long-standing disregard for some of its most vulnerable residents – from disabled children and adults to struggling families in unsuitable housing.
The failures are not new. Since at least the mid-2000s, Harrow’s Conservative administration has been repeatedly found guilty of maladministration, unlawful decision-making, and outright neglect of duty. High-profile cases included unlawful cuts to adult care services in 2007 and compensation orders over botched school mergers in 2009.
Fast-forward to today, and the pattern has only worsened.
In August 2025, the LGO found Harrow Council had forced a registered blind man and his family to endure avoidable years in unsuitable housing, awarding them over £6,000 in compensation.
In July 2025, the Ombudsman ruled the council failed to follow procedure over a disabled child’s respite care, despite repeated reminders.
In April 2025, Ofsted rated the council’s children’s services “inadequate,” prompting the Department for Education to slap Harrow with an official improvement notice.
In June 2023, Harrow Council was compelled by a court to provide suitable housing for a family with a severely disabled child who had been in unsuitable temporary accommodation for almost a year.
Between 2023 and 2024, case after case revealed missed special educational needs provision, delays to legally required education plans, botched care assessments, and unsafe housing conditions, including 3,500 uninspected homes with outstanding electrical safety risks.
The administration that gives a sense of being more on the right has often responded defensively, portraying its governance as part of a broader ‘reassurance that Harrow belongs in Britain’ – but residents say this rhetoric masks systemic neglect and calculated disregard for those without political power.
Local campaigners argue the council’s priorities are clear: political messaging first, people last. Vulnerable residents are left waiting months, even years, for the services and support they are legally entitled to. Families are routinely offered token compensation while systemic failures go unaddressed.
As one critic put it, ‘What happens in macro, happens in micro’ – Harrow council Conservative administration reflects its party that seems more interested in political positioning nearing Reform UK than in caring for ordinary people.
With watchdogs continuing to expose failure after failure, pressure is growing for accountability. But so far, Harrow’s Conservative administration appears more concerned with damage control than genuine reform.
Harrow Monitoring Group 
No concern shown for the ordinary people of Harrow by the indifferent & incompetent Council lumbering on from one disaster to another as the Complaints pile up ! Surely it’s not a Joke?
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