Clarity for councils about way Ombudsman will investigate financial assessment complaints Councils can now be clear about the way the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will investigate complaints about financial assessments involving personal injury awards, after an application for a judicial review was thrown out by the High Court. The clarification comes after Wokingham Borough Council ...

LGSCO suspends complaints enquiries of councils and care providers The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has suspended all casework activity that demands information from, or action by, local authorities and care providers, in light of the current Coronavirus outbreak. The Ombudsman has taken this step in the wider public interest, to protect the capacity of local authorities and care pr ...

Sareyeh Investigator I previously worked as a solicitor for 12 years, and before that in human rights law. While experience in the legal sector isn’t a pre-requisite, I had lots of transferable skills to be an investigator at the Ombudsman. The main appeal of the job was being able to “put something back” and fitting in with my strong sense of social justice. The complaints we investigate are ver ...

Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy Contents: Chapter index for Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy Updated: 05 August 2024 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy search Search this content Submit search Part 2 • Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Statement of Intent Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Statement of Intent The Commission for Local Administration in England’s policy is to: maintain safe and heal ...

Ombudsman issues guidance on housing allocations for Disabled people Councils’ housing allocations schemes is the subject of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s third practical guide for housing officers to help improve services for Disabled people. The latest guide highlights issues Disabled people face when applying to councils’ housing schemes, and the changes local councils can m ...

Ombudsman and Enforcement Conduct Board sign agreement The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to aid better investigation of complaints and concerns about enforcement agents. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about enforcement agents – more commonly known as bailiffs – when acting on behalf of local authorit ...

New guide aims to improve support for children missing education The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has today published new guidance to help councils better support children who are unable to go to school. The Ombudsman has seen an exponential rise in complaints involving alternative education provision. Over the past three years its caseload has increased tenfold with 38 cases invest ...

Luton told to fix benefits backlog by Ombudsman Luton Borough Council is improving the way it administers benefits appeals after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found it had a backlog of cases dating back five years. A man complained on behalf of his mother that the council had cancelled her housing benefit in 2017, but it had taken it until 2023 to refer her case to the Tribunal. ...

Introducing the new virtual assistant The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has launched a new online assistant to help people get the information they need, faster. The virtual assistant can answer questions, help people understand how to make a complaint, and explain what LGSCO can and cannot look at. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to trawl through information contained within th ...

Hackney to review rejected Blue Badge applications from past 16 months following Ombudsman investigation Drivers in Hackney who have been refused a Blue Badge can apply to have their cases reassessed after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found flaws in the local council’s scheme. The Ombudsman investigated a woman’s complaint that London Borough of Hackney had not renewed her badge ...