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The Local Government Ombudsmen investigate complaints of injustice
arising from maladministration by local authorities and certain
other bodies. There are three Local Government Ombudsmen in England
and they each deal with complaints from different parts of the country.
They investigate complaints about most council matters including
housing, planning, education, social services, consumer protection,
drainage and council tax. The Ombudsmen can investigate complaints
about how the council has done something. But they cannot question
what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with
it.
A complainant must give the council concerned an opportunity
to deal with a complaint against it first. It is best to use the
council's own complaints procedure, if it has one. If the complainant
is not satisfied with the action the council takes, he or she can
send a written complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman, or ask
a councillor to do so on their behalf.
The Ombudsmen are:
Tony Redmond - who deals with complaints from north London, Buckinghamshire,
Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, and Sussex;
Anne Seex - who deals with complaints from Birmingham City,
Solihull MBC, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire,
Warwickshire and the north of England; and
Jerry White - who deals with complaints from the
rest of England.
All new complaints go to the LGO Advice Team based
at our Coventry office. See the ‘How
to complain’ section, or the ‘contact
us’ page
The objective of the Ombudsmen is to secure, where appropriate,
satisfactory redress for complainants and better administration
for the authorities. Since 1989, the Ombudsmen have had power to
issue advice on good administrative practice in local government
based on experience derived from their investigations. To this end,
they have to date published six guidance
on good practice notes on setting up complaints systems, good
administrative practice, council housing repairs, members' interests,
disposal of land and remedies.
They have also published annual Digest of
cases.
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