More systemic problems seen in Ombudsman complaints lead to increased wider service improvements Increasing systemic problems seen in people’s complaints has led to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman making more wider service improvement recommendations to councils in 2019-20 than ever before. Detailed in its Annual Review of Local Government Complaints launched today, the Ombudsman h ...

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 ...

Town and parish councils This fact sheet is aimed primarily at anyone who is experiencing problems with a service provided by a parish or town council and is considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. I'm not happy with a service provided by my parish council. Can the Ombudsman help me? In most cases, no. The Local Government Act 1974 (S34(1)) defines the authorities that we may investigate ...

Waste and refuse This fact sheet is aimed primarily at people who have concerns about how their council collects and deals with household rubbish and commercial/industrial waste. Organisations the Ombudsman can look at We hold councils to account for services they pay other organisations, including private companies, to carry out on their behalf. This means we can still investigate complaints abo ...

Frequently asked questions What is the council or care provider’s complaints procedure? All councils have published complaints procedures that show how they investigate complaints. These vary but usually include two or more stages, each operated by a more senior member of staff than the last stage or, in some cases, elected councillors. At each stage the council will normally send you a written r ...

Complaints about Police and Crime Commissioners This fact sheet is aimed primarily at anyone who has a complaint about police and crime commissioners and who may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. Police and crime commissioners are elected to make sure the police service is effective and hold the chief constable to account. So almost everything they do is related to dealing with ...

Guidance on Jurisdiction Contents: Chapter index for Guidance on Jurisdiction Updated: 01 January 2026 Guidance on Jurisdiction search Search this content Submit search Part 2 • 2. Maladministration and Service Failure 2.1 Introduction The term ‘maladministration’ is deliberately not defined in law and similarly there is no explicit threshold for what constitutes maladministration. Our jurisdicti ...

Guidance on remedies Contents: Chapter index for Guidance on remedies Updated: 03 November 2025 Guidance on remedies search Search this content Submit search Part 2 • Remedies guidance applying to all subjects 2.1 Introduction This section sets out general principles that are common to all types of complaint. It sets the framework for subject specific guidance. When we identify fault has caused u ...

Harrogate Borough Council Read our guidance on interpreting local authority statistics. Annual Review 2023 (108 KB) Annual Review 2022 (114 KB) Annual Review 2021 (124 KB) Annual Review 2020 (172 KB) Annual Review 2019 (196 KB) Annual Review 2018 (99 KB) Annual Review 2017 (245 KB) Annual Review 2016 (26 KB)

Greater Manchester Combined Authority Read our guidance on interpreting local authority statistics. Annual Review 2025 (121 KB) Annual Review 2024 (146 KB) Annual Review 2023 (102 KB)