Complaints about education and children’s services are still dominating the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s casework, but housing cases are now the second biggest area of concern for people complaining.

Published today, the Ombudsman’s annual review of its local government complaints for 2024-25 shows a continued increase in its caseload, with a record number of complaints received, exceeding 20,000 for the first time.

Of these complaints, Education and Children’s Services made up 27 per cent of the caseload and 47 per cent of all upheld investigations. The Ombudsman found fault in 91 per cent of all Education and Children’s complaints, and 94 per cent of cases involving special educational needs provision.

Housing cases accounted for 17 per cent of all cases received, and accounted for a higher proportion than last year. Of those cases investigated, the Ombudsman upheld 85 per cent, with issues remaining particularly acute in the London area.

The third highest area of casework was adult care services, taking 13 per cent of the Ombudsman’s workload – a slightly smaller proportion than last year. Of these, 78 per cent of investigations carried out were upheld.

The report also shows:

• 83 per cent of all investigations carried out were upheld
• Compliance with recommendations remained high at 99.7 per cent
• Across the country there were 6.2 upheld complaints per 100,000 residents

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“Sitting at the apex of the complaint system for English local authorities, the complaints we receive – and the faults we find – can act as a bellwether for the state of local services across the country.

“We are receiving a higher number of complaints year-on-year and upholding those complaints in greater numbers. This reflects how systemic some of the issues across local government are.

“I appreciate national pressures in the key areas of Special Educational Needs, availability of housing and adult care are putting enormous strain on local authorities, but we still hold them accountable to the law and guidance and the high standards people expect from their local services. We are finding more fault, but I welcome their overwhelming compliance with the recommendations we make.”

The report, along with data for each local authority in England is available on the Ombudsman’s website.

Article date: 16 July 2025