Suffolk County Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 186 complaints. Of these, 38 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 68 complaints. We investigated 80 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 80 complaints and upheld 75.
94% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 89% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Suffolk County Council's population, this is 9.7 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
5.3 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 6 out of 75 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
8% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 10% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 62 cases.
In 62 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 Suffolk County 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.
Suffolk to apologise to family for failing to educate girl for 18 months
Suffolk County Council has not done enough to provide an education to a young girl with special educational needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Ombudsman tells Suffolk County Council to improve support for children who can’t go to school
Suffolk County Council needs to make improvements “as a priority” to the way it provides alternative education to children who can’t go to school, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has warned.
Suffolk girl with special educational needs left without vital therapy
A Suffolk girl did not receive vital Occupational Therapy for nearly two years because of council confusion, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Ombudsman reminds councils of proper process for supporting vulnerable people at assessment meetings
Councils are being reminded by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman that vulnerable people can choose who supports them through care reviews, after Suffolk County Council halted assessments for a couple’s care and support plans because of a dispute.
Autistic teen forced to move schools because of lack of resources
An autistic teenager was moved from her residential special school midway through her studies because of poor planning by Suffolk County Council, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Woman charged for hours of care she did not receive
A Suffolk woman, who was charged for homecare despite workers falsifying records, should have some of her fees refunded, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said.
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: 25 003 045
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants
- Remind relevant officers of the Council’s duties under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Case reference: 24 019 227
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind all relevant officers that personal budgets for Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans must be reviewed and agreed during the annual review process. Any agreed personal budget must also be included and outlined in Section J of the EHC Plan.
Case reference: 24 018 382
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Friends and family carers
- The Council will remind all relevant officers that if it is involved in the arrangements for a child to be cared for by a private family arrangement, that it ensures all parties are aware of the nature of the arrangement and where financial support may come from. It should also ensure proper records are made of this explanation and discussions, so it is not in dispute. This will allow the carer to make an informed decision about whether to accept a child on a private arrangement.
Case reference: 24 018 288
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Safeguarding
- The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant care home staff to ensure they are aware of what they should do and how to escalate matters if a resident consistently refuses to eat and drink.
- The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they complete safeguarding investigations without unreasonable delay and provide regular updates to the person who has reported the safeguarding concern.
Case reference: 24 017 940
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- • share a copy of this decision with Council staff dealing with statutory complaints procedure. Ensure learning from this decision is shared appropriately and ensure individual cases/complaints are properly investigated under the statutory complaints procedure
- • remind relevant staff of the need to complete ‘Child in Need’ assessments within the 45 working days from the date of the referral request in line with statutory timescales
- • by training or other means, remind relevant staff of the importance of completing agreed recommendations set out in ‘Child in Need’ plans in a timely manner and within agreed timescales.
Case reference: 24 017 247
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- Remind relevant staff of the importance of:i.enabling Investigating Officers to interview all relevant professionals, in line with statutory guidance;ii.providing clear and timely communication during assessments, including sharing key documents; andiii.issuing written updates and revised timescales where complaints investigations are delayed.
Case reference: 24 016 358
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Direct payments
- The Council agreed to carry out three briefings to staff covering assessments of care needs, care and support planning and administration of direct payments. These would aim to share learning from this complaint on the importance of keeping a clear audit trail of decisions where the Council proposes cutting a care package; involving the users of services in deciding what care services they want and decisions around direct payments; as well as when and how it might end a direct payment. In this case the Council had been at fault in all three areas, not explaining why it proposed cutting a care package, and stopping direct payments contrary to the complainant's wishes and without adequate justification.
- The Council also agreed to review it current arrangements for responding to adult social care complaints to ensure they were consistent with the expectations we publish, including where it contracts care to private care providers. This was after it failed to keep oversight of a complaint about a care provider, and unnecessarily prolonged correspondence with the complainant.
Case reference: 24 015 692
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- Within three months of the final decision the Council should:• Carry out service improvements to ensure that complaints are fully responded to;• Review how the Council can improve communication where the Council sends out multiple charging letters on the same day or close together, it will also tell people of the final amount to pay.
Case reference: 24 015 439
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to amend its School Travel Policy to ensure it aligns with the statutory guidance about considering medical training for passenger assistants working on dedicated school transport.
Case reference: 24 013 508
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will:-a) provide a copy of the new policy about how the Council deals with children and young people who enter the Council with an EHC Plan;
- b) remind staff and provide training by way of staff circular, team meeting, supervision, or sessions so relevant staff are aware of the new policy and its implications;
- c) remind staff and provide training by way of staff circular, team meeting, supervision, or sessions about who should be invited to EHC Plan reviews and what steps to take when engagement from parents frustrates the review process.
Last updated: 4 April 2015