Council’s decision-making criticised during school transport investigation The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has asked Staffordshire County Council to reconsider whether it pays for transport to get a teenager, who has autism, to her college some 25 miles away. Since moving to post-16 education, the girl has not received any financial help to get to the college named in her Education ...

Manual for Councils Contents: Chapter index for Manual for Councils Updated: 14 May 2025 Manual for Councils search Search this content Submit search Part 10 • Duty to report our decisions to elected officials Duty to report our decisions to elected officials If we make a finding of fault, councils and some authorities have a duty to report that finding to elected officials. However, the requirem ...

Ombudsman investigation highlights councils’ recruitment problems The problems faced by councils in recruiting educational psychologists have been highlighted in an investigation report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The report, which upholds a North Yorkshire mother’s complaint about delays by the county council in meeting her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, has ...

Surrey boy with special needs spent too long in inappropriate school Surrey County Council took 15 months too long to issue a disabled boy’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, and unfairly limited his father’s ability to chase for updates, a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has found. The boy, who has significant Special Educational Needs (SEN), spent too long in a sch ...

Family left waiting for house adaptations for disabled son for three years A severely disabled Doncaster boy’s family has had to wait three years for the council to provide them with the special adaptations their home needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The family, who provide for all the boy’s basic needs and personal care, currently have to carry him from room to ro ...

Ombudsman investigation reveals 170 delayed complaints in Kent A Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has uncovered a backlog of 170 unanswered children’s services and education complaints in Kent. The Ombudsman was asked to investigate after Kent County Council failed to respond to a mother’s complaint that her son had not been provided with the Speech and Language Therapy (S ...

Ombudsman investigation highlights housing delays in Birmingham The high number of families trying to join councils’ housing lists is being highlighted by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman following one family’s complaint about their situation. The family told the Ombudsman that Birmingham City Council took too long to assess their circumstances. During the Ombudsman’s investigation ...

Notts mum should be refunded nursery charges following Ombudsman investigation Nottinghamshire County Council has been told to repay a mum half the additional charges she paid for nearly two years because it did not properly oversee a nursery’s charging policy. The child should have received 30 hours a week free under the national free early education entitlement scheme, but the mum complained sh ...

Councils can investigate parents’ complaints without consent of minors Lancashire County Council has agreed to apologise to a father after it told him it could not investigate his children’s services complaint without the consent of his son. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said parents have a right to complain, the council has a legal obligation to consider a complaint and it d ...

London borough criticised for not saying sorry London Borough of Harrow has been criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for failing to properly remedy a complaint by apologising to a resident. The man complained to the Ombudsman about the council not taking enforcement action against the owner of a neighbouring property which was empty, had overgrown gardens and was in a sta ...