The children’s statutory complaints procedure This fact sheet is for people who wish to make, or have already made, a complaint about a council's Children’s Service. It advises you on the way the council should deal with your complaint and when you can ask us to consider it. How will the council consider my complaint? Councils consider some complaints about Children’s Services under a special thr ...

Compacts between councils and civil society organisations This fact sheet is aimed primarily at civil society organisations who are having difficulties with the implementation of a compact agreement with the council and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. What is a civil society organisation (CSO)? CSOs are bodies such as charities, social enterprises and community groups. Exa ...

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 ...

Liverpool criticised by Ombudsman for failing disabled teenage siblings The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised Liverpool City Council for not ensuring two teenage siblings with significant needs were provided with the support they should have received for 18 months. The siblings, who have multiple disabilities including visual impairments and complex communication needs, bo ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...