Local Government Ombudsman

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Have you given the council a chance to investigate the complaint and respond?

The Ombudsman may not investigate a complaint before a council has had a reasonable opportunity to investigate and respond to it. Generally, we consider that a ‘reasonable opportunity’ is 12 weeks from the date when someone first made a written complaint to a council. We usually expect people to use councils’ complaints procedures and to exhaust all stages of those procedures before coming to us.

There are some circumstances where, exceptionally, the Ombudsman will consider becoming involved sooner. If you think any of the following exceptions apply please give us details.

Complaints where the subject means the matter is clearly urgent:

  • complaints about education - except transport   
  • complaints about homelessness where the person is currently, or will imminently be, homeless (but bear in mind that court action may be an alternative)

Complaints where the LGO or the council decide that completing the council's procedure would be detrimental to the person concerned:

  • where there has been unreasonable delay in handling a complaint (generally if no progress has been made in 12 weeks)
  • complaints where the council's chief executive has exercised discretion not to investigate further
  • complaints where the LGO has exercised discretion because they have good reason to believe the council will not handle the complaint effectively
  • complaints against more than one body within the jurisdiction of the LGO and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) - we can do joint investigations with the PHSO

Complaints where the person's circumstances indicate a need for priority:

  • complaints made by children and young people - up to the age of 21 or 25 if they have a disability
  • complaints where referral to the council would disadvantage an already disadvantaged complainant.

Each case is considered individually, so if you think there may be exceptional factors why the case you are dealing with should be considered by the Ombudsman even though a council may not have had a reasonable opportunity of dealing with it first, please let us know why.

It is very helpful for us if you can explain what steps you have taken to resolve the matter for your client and provide copies of any correspondence with the council and any other relevant documents.

Even when we decide that a complaint we receive needs to be sent to the council to consider first, we will follow it up by writing to the complainant again to check whether they are satisfied with the outcome. If not, or if there has been unreasonable delay by the council in dealing with the complaint, the complainant can ask the Ombudsman to get involved at that stage.

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Date Updated: 30/03/09