Councils must give parents clear information during safeguarding investigations The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is reminding councils of their duties to parents when asking them to leave the family home during safeguarding investigations, following an investigation into a complaint about Newcastle City Council. A man complained to the Ombudsman that, following an allegation he had ...

Councils reminded about good complaint handling following two Ombudsman investigations The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is reminding local authorities about the importance of good complaint handling after it found significant issues in two councils’ procedures. The Ombudsman used its powers to investigate wider issues at both LB Islington and the former Cumbria County Council after ...

Complaints about how your planning application is dealt with This fact sheet is aimed primarily at planning applicants who have concerns about the way the council has dealt with their planning application and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman. I have a problem with my application for planning permission - can the Ombudsman help me? In many cases, no. This is because, by law, ...

Guidance on remedies Contents: Chapter index for Guidance on remedies Updated: 03 November 2025 Guidance on remedies search Search this content Submit search Part 7 • Subject specific guidance - Housing Homelessness Introduction Fault by councils in carrying out their duties to the homeless can cause a serious injustice. A homeless person may be forced to sleep rough if a council wrongly refuses ...

Monthly News December 2022 15 Dec 2022 Oxfordshire fails to provide alternative education for a year 14 Dec 2022 Ombudsman’s Annual Report highlights improvements for complainants and local service users The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has published its Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22, which details the success of its work to give more complainants a quicker decision on their ca ...

Adult Social Care Complaints, Reviews and Appeals: A good practice guide for local authorities Contents: Chapter index for Adult Social Care Complaints, Reviews and Appeals: A good practice guide for local authorities Updated: 06 February 2025 Adult Social Care Complaints, Reviews and Appeals: A good practice guide for local authorities search Search this content Submit search Part 7 • Complaints ...

Ombudsman reminds councils to review SEN needs before Key Stage transfers Councils need to review children’s special educational needs in the run-up to Key Stage transfers, even if they are staying at the same school, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said. The reminder comes after the Ombudsman investigated a complaint from a Warwickshire parent that the county council had not c ...

Distressed Leeds girl left without proper education for months Leeds City Council left a young girl without proper education for nine months after she started refusing to go to her primary school because of anxiety, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The girl, who was 10 when the events started, became increasingly anxious about going to school until the school asked her mo ...

Monthly News January 2020 29 Jan 2020 Daventry District Council fails to tackle industrial noise complaint properly 23 Jan 2020 Council makes serious unsubstantiated allegations about asylum seeker during Ombudsman investigation 22 Jan 2020 Nottinghamshire man’s care package reduced because of financial pressures, Ombudsman finds 17 Jan 2020 Ombudsman reminds councils of their foster carer school ...

Vulnerable children removed from foster carers who wanted to adopt them The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has asked East Riding of Yorkshire Council to apologise to a foster couple after it removed two vulnerable children, they hoped to adopt, from their care. The couple took on the children after their birth parents were unable to look after them. When they were removed from their p ...