The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has presented its Annual Report and Accounts to parliament for the period April 2024 to March 2025.

For the second consecutive year, the Ombudsman saw a 15% increase in the number of new complaints registered.

During 2024-25, the LGSCO dealt with 22,010 complaints and enquiries. Of the 4,441 complaints in which it carried out a detailed investigation, the Ombudsman upheld 83% (3,665 in number).

During the period, the Ombudsman published its Triennial Review 2024-27, which highlighted systemic issues in education, housing and adult social care services. The review proposed four key solutions where changes to legislation, around the Ombudsman’s powers to investigate, would help reduce gaps in the system of redress for people who have suffered injustice.

Despite the increased caseload, the Ombudsman continued to demonstrate high-quality decision making and completed 90% of investigations within 26 weeks. It also maintained an excellent compliance rate, with more than 99% of its recommendations carried out to its satisfaction.

The year included the publication of nine major thematic reports to help improve local government services, including focus reports on fostering and adoption services, and on cases where people fell through gaps due to bureaucracy between local health and social care service providers.

The LGSCO also published good practice guides for council officers on medical assessments in housing services, domestic abuse when considering homelessness and housing decisions, and household waste offences.

LGSCO Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, Julie Odams, said:

“The increase in the number of complaints made to us, over two years, shows there is a growing need from the public for us to look into their concerns about the services they receive.

“We have continued to focus on telling people if we can investigate their complaint in detail as quickly as possible. This is vital because many people are seeking a final say on long and complicated disputes.

“Despite managing increased caseloads, the quality of our decision making remains high and we remain committed to helping improve services for everybody by reporting on the learning from our casework to the local government and social care sectors we oversee.”

Article date: 18 December 2025