As a council employee (not Southwark) I think I should point out just how much the Govt has cut funding to councils. It has been brutal and continues to be so. It's easy to slate the council and often justified, but the pressures are phenomenal. Call centres being set up because they are cheaper than having professional staff answering the phone etc. My council are still running Windows XP ffs because the cost of upgrade is too much! Oh, and we are making people redundant hand over fist! This goes in hand with procuring cheaper contracts and you get what you pay for....... Anyway.... You mentioned ombudsman and this is definitely a good route, but you will have to exhaust Southwarks complaints procedure first or they will simply bat it back. If you have not put in official complaint I would suggest doing so straight away to start the ball rolling. Best of luck!