A system in crisis? Ombudsman complaints about special educational needs at alarming level Children with special educational needs and disabilities are increasingly being failed by the system designed to support them, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. In its latest report about the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process, the Ombudsman has revealed it is now upholdin ...

Social care ombudsman launches best practice guidance for handling self-funder complaints The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has today launched best practice guidance to help adult social care providers deliver fair, transparent and accountable complaints handling – particularly for self-funding care users. The campaign encourages providers to ensure their complaints processes ...

Ombudsman issues second report after South Kesteven District Council used wrong test to consider man’s homelessness The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has taken the unusual step of issuing a further report against South Kesteven District Council for it refusing to pay a remedy to a man who asked for homelessness support. The Ombudsman found that the council failed to properly consider ...

Wirral teen missed out on post-16 education because of council faults Wirral MBC has been asked to pay a teenager more than £4,000 after it failed to put in place proper educational provision for him. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was asked to investigate by the teenager’s mother after the council took too long to review her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This left ...

Ombudsman reminds councils of their foster carer school transport duties Councils across England are being reminded about the financial support they must provide to foster carers’ school transport expenses following an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman into Wolverhampton council. The warning comes after a foster carer complained the council told her the children she ...

Ombudsman issues rare further report into Medway Council The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has made the rare move to issue a further report because Medway Council has not implemented the Ombudsman's recommendations or followed the correct process to disagree with them. The Ombudsman decided in September 2017 the council should provide school transport for a girl in its area because s ...

Staffordshire council missed multiple deadlines reviewing girl’s special needs plans Staffordshire council’s consistently poor administration of a county teen’s special educational needs plan left her college unable to properly support her, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The girl, who has autism spectrum disorder and physical disabilities, moved to a new college from he ...

Ombudsman annual report focuses on sharing the learning from complaints The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman did more to share the lessons from its investigations, according to its Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19. Last year the Ombudsman published 50 reports and guidance documents, and more than 9,000 decision statements on its website, to help councils and care providers learn from ...

Ombudsman highlights priorities to improve public services over next three years The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has made four recommendations to Government on how the organisation could improve the public services it oversees in its flagship Triennial Review, launched today. The Review assesses the effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s service alongside the delivery of services in the ...

Resident left feeling unsafe after council ignored neighbour complaints An Enfield man was left feeling unsafe in his own home after his local council repeatedly failed to act on his reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) from a neighbour, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman reports. The man contacted London Borough of Enfield the day after moving into his flat in 2024. He reported per ...