The Commission and its role

The Commission for Local Administration in England is the formal title of the Local Government Ombudsman service. The role of the Commission and the Local Government Ombudsmen is set out in the Local Government Act 1974 (amended by the Health Act 2009) and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. It is an independent organisation funded from the Revenue Support Grant. The operational grant for 2011/12 is £15.739 million.

The Commission comprises the three Local Government Ombudsmen and the Parliamentary Ombudsman who are appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The Commission's mission is:

provide an independent means of redress to individuals for injustice caused by unfair treatment or service failure by local authorities, schools and care providers and use our learning to promote good public administration and service improvement.

The areas covered by the three Local Government Ombudsmen, and the location of their offices can be found on the Who we are page.

Each of the three Ombudsmen is supported by a Deputy Ombudsman and a team of investigative staff. Each team is further split into subteams each headed by an Assistant Ombudsman who reports to the Deputy Ombudsman.

The depth to which complaints are investigated varies according to the individual complaint. Some complaints are the subject of an early decision to end the Ombudsman's involvement, for example, where the matter is not one that the law allows us to investigate. Others are the subject of written enquiries of the body concerned and perhaps a meeting with the complainant before the Ombudsman's involvement is ended, for example, because no or insufficient evidence of maladministration has been found or - as in 2,446 cases last year - because the body complained of offers to settle the complaint during the course of the investigation. Last year it was necessary to issue formal reports on 0.3% of complaints determined (excluding premature complaints and those outside jurisdiction).

In the year ended 31 March 2011, 21,840 complaints and enquiries were received. The main subjects of complaints and enquiries received are housing (20%) and education and children's services (19%). Other subjects include planning and development, highways and transport, benefits and tax, and adult social care.

Date Updated: 19/08/11