Homeless Haringey family left in bed and breakfast accommodation because of council errors A Haringey mother of six has been living in bed and breakfast accommodation since February 2020 because her local council did not do enough to prevent her from becoming homeless, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The mother, some of whose children are disabled, had been living in pri ...

Moving traffic offences This fact sheet is aimed primarily at people who have concerns about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by enforcing authorities and who may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. I have received a penalty charge notice for a moving traffic offence. Can the Ombudsman help me? Transport for London (TfL) and councils both inside and outside London may enforce ...

Ombudsman calls for more fairness over parking fines Councils in England should do more to make parking fines fairer, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has said. In a new report highlighting the common issues found in the complaints it receives about parking and moving traffic penalties, the Ombudsman says people are sometimes being treated unfairly and may be paying fines unnecessarily. The r ...

Ombudsman condemns Leicester care company for threatening and abusive complaint response A Leicester care provider who threatened a vulnerable elderly woman with bailiffs because she complained about the care her husband received, has been heavily criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The owner of Pine View Care Homes Ltd initially responded to the family’s complaint sugge ...

Council tax This fact sheet is aimed chiefly at anyone who is experiencing problems with their council tax account and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. I have a problem with my council tax. Can the Ombudsman help me? Sometimes, yes. But there are some matters the law does not allow us to look at: We cannot deal with a complaint about something that affects nearly everyone l ...

Focus Reports and Good Practice Guides Focus reports highlight common or systemic issues we see, brought to life with case studies from our complaints. They share learning from complaints to help councils and care providers make improvements, contribute to public policy debates and give elected members tools to scrutinise local services. Focus reports are web-based publications. If you need any o ...

What we can and cannot look at What we can investigate We can investigate complaints about most council services, even if the council pays another organisation (like a private company) to provide them. We can also investigate adult care services that people pay for themselves, like living in a care home or having care provided in their own home. We also deal with complaints about some other organ ...

Scrutiny questions Suggested questions to help councillors scrutinise their local services We believe that complaints raised by the public can be an important source of information to help councillors identify issues that are affecting local people. Complaints can therefore play a key part in supporting the scrutiny of public services. Below are range of questions that councillors could ask their ...

Scrutiny questions Suggested questions to help councillors scrutinise their local services We believe that complaints raised by the public can be an important source of information to help councillors identify issues that are affecting local people. Complaints can therefore play a key part in supporting the scrutiny of public services. Below are range of questions that councillors could ask their ...