Can you complain to the Local Government Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman can investigate complaints made by or on behalf of members of the public. This includes not just complaints from individuals but also groups of people and a wide range of organisations. There could, for example, be circumstances where your own organisation might have a complaint about the administrative actions of a council that the Ombudsman could consider. But as an adviser you will more usually be involved in making complaints on behalf of individual members of the public or in helping your clients to make complaints on their own behalf. These notes, therefore, focus primarily on assisting you in that role, although the same considerations described in this guidance would apply to complaints made by organisations.