Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 61 complaints. Of these, 27 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 23 complaints. We investigated 11 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 11 complaints and upheld 8.
73% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 81% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council's population, this is 3.3% upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
4.7% upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 4 out of 8 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
50% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 6 cases.
In 6 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
No reports published
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
Find out more about service improvements
When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 23 020 508
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the refresher training referred to in paragraph 18 of the decision statement, and;ensure complaints are properly identified, investigated, and responded to in a timely manner. The Council may wish to refer to the Ombudsman's guidance on good complaint handling.
Case reference: 23 011 950
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council agreed to review the changes its community equipment service and community equipment supplier recently made to ensure the changes made were appropriate and effective.
- The Council agreed to review how its community equipment service promotes individual choice when arranging equipment to meet care and support needs. It should ensure the service has effective procedures to meet it, and the Council's responsibilities to promote choice in care planning.
- The Council agreed to review whether its equipment service and community equipment supplier have adequate procedures for recording details of equipment provided and for preventative checks or maintenance on equipment it does not routinely keep in stock.
Case reference: 22 017 300
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Council should share the outcome of its review (with the Integrated Care Board and Trust) into the local Section 117 policy.
- The Council should review its local policy for Approved Mental Health Providers, to ensure they explore the potential effects of alcohol and drug use during Mental Health Act assessments.
Case reference: 22 014 431
Category: Planning
Sub Category: Planning applications
- The Council acted with fault by failing to properly consult with a statutory consultee on a planning application. The Council has agreed to share the findings of our investigation with relevant officers, reminding them they must seek the views of statutory consultees on relevant planning applications.
Case reference: 22 013 047
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council agreed to review its adult social care non-residential charging policy to ensure it provides clear information about allowances it may apply where someone receives care at night outside their care plan, and how it will calculate this.
- The Council agreed to create guidance for relevant staff about financial assessments for non-residential adult social care to ensure it keeps clear, well organised, and accurate records in line with its procedures for retention and disposal of records. Records will:make clear what has happened when retrospective financial assessments have been completed;include a detailed breakdown of all figures used in financial assessments, including the person’s income and benefits, daily living costs, Disability Related Expenditure (DRE), and the personal budget needed to meet their needs; andrecord all DRE considerations and decisions including full rationale and copies of any contemporaneous evidence considered.
- The Council agreed to create guidance for relevant staff about financial assessments for non-residential adult social care to ensure it:properly communicates any outcomes or changes to the person (or their representative) including the decision rationale and a full breakdown of all relevant figures; andproperly considers challenges to its financial assessment decisions through its review and appeal processes to ensure it applies the required scrutiny when a decision is challenged.
Case reference: 22 009 724
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- Remind the Home of the importance of person-centred care and adhering to the Falls Procedure.
Case reference: 22 008 176
Category: Education
Sub Category: COVID-19
- The Council will produce guidelines for school admission appeal panel members and clerks about expected standards of conduct during remote hearings.
Case reference: 21 004 246
Category: Other Categories
Sub Category: Other
- • Share this decision with the GRO so it can consider whether it needs to review the information contained in its Registrar’s Handbook.
Case reference: 20 010 029
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- Remind relevant staff of the importance to inform residents of their right of appeal if they disagree with the outcome of the financial assessment.
Case reference: 20 001 753
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust will review the case from a safeguarding perspective to identify any learning points. They will write to the complainant with the outcome of the review. This should include explaining any learning identified by the review and any further actions taken.
- The Council will review its Corporate Records Management Policy and Retention Schedule to ensure it allows for the retention, where appropriate, of significant correspondence relating to the registration of a death.
Last updated: 4 April 2015