LG & SC Ombudsman Recensioni 358

I have submitted several complaints to the Ombudsman — all related to my child’s EHCP and social care package. In every case there was a clear fault on the part of the Council. Unfortunately, the Ombudsman now appears to be siding with the Council.

I have seen draft decisions where the Ombudsman seemed to make up their own rules. By law, the local authority must provide the provision ordered by the Tribunal within five weeks of the order date, but the Ombudsman stated that the Council could take at least three months to provide this provision.

Hydrotherapy was not provided by the Council for more than 12 months, yet the Ombudsman said this was acceptable because no local hydrotherapy was available — even though I had specifically requested a personal budget to arrange it myself. These are only examples.

Each time, I had to request an independent, final Ombudsman decision, and fortunately my requests were upheld, the cases were reopened, and the correct decisions were eventually made.

However, it is deeply worrying and frightening that families must fight even with the Ombudsman — an organisation that is supposed to understand and apply the law fairly, not take the Council’s side against the law. What happens to people who are not as determined as I have been?

Immaculate service from our Investigator who was phenomenal throughout dealing with our case. All the information we sent across was considered thoroughly and we felt very listened to during the entire process as communication was consistent. They act impartially so some elements may not be favourable however, justice was served in our case and highly recommend.

Don't waste your time, they completely protect the council at any cost. Cases are closed at the start, to save investigating serious complaints.

No justice. No equality. Just councils protected at all costs. This organisation doesn’t serve the people, it should be scrapped - complete waste of tax payers money. A joke of an organisation. A waste of time and public money and they don't even review the evidence properly.

Zero stars, actually
I was referred to LGO by Glos CC as we could not agree on payment for a bill for my late mothers care (even charged for months after she passed).
According the to LGO they will only take on a case if it was within 12 months of the Councils Complaint process being followed and no agreement. I opened a case with the LGO 2 days after the CC said "go to the ombudsman"....and yet the LGO took 8 weeks then said "sorry you took too long to submit. Closing case". And that...was that. What a complete waste of time. This org should be shut down, as it is wasting time and money.

If I could give zero stars, I would. The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman presents itself as an independent body, but in my experience it’s little more than a rubber stamp for councils. They appear to side with local authorities almost by default, dismissing or downplaying clear evidence of wrongdoing. This service seems designed to give the illusion of accountability while protecting the organisations it’s supposed to scrutinise. For members of the public seeking justice, it’s frustrating, demoralising, and ultimately pointless. I would strongly advise anyone not to pin their hopes on this body — it’s a box-ticking exercise, not a real safeguard.

Wow. I had evidence of extreme bias regarding Lancashire childrens social services. It took them months to even look at the case and when they did they refused to look in to it further and didn't acknowledge the evidence. They're as bent as childrens social services. There's no wonder there's so much child abuse and the country is in such a state. There's no accountability and they need investigating themselves. They're fundamentally here to cover up incompetence and dodgy behaviours of their partners (social services). Everybody on here can't be wrong.

USELESS RE LIVERPOOL SOCIAL SERVICES! MY SISTER PLACED IN NURSING HOME OVER THREE YEARS AGO! SHE NEEDS HIP REPLACEMENT! SHOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT HOSPITAL. NHS AND PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN WERE USELESS. THEN REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN WHO SAID ITS NOW TOO LATE. CANNOT GET RECORDS. LEFT ROTTING IN NURSING HOME. TOLD GO FOR TWO WEEKS FREE OF CHARGE. NOW FOURTH BIRTHDAY LYING IN BED

Local authorities refer you to the LG&SCO knowing full well they're not going to do anything, you can almost hear them laughing when they suggest it. Local authorities have nothing to fear from a LGO investigation as they know that they are totally ineffective, incompetent, lethargic and apathetic. Do you think the LGO worry about complains and one star reviews? Of course not they have no customer base or competitors, their funding is guaranteed by the tax payer. Roll on Reform Government i hope they can sort out this mess of an organisation.

Clearly linked to government and councils. South Cambs were acting illegally to save money and case officer agreed in findings. The outcome was for South Cambs to apologies and promise not to do it again. 5 months later, South Cambs worse than ever and must be laughing at Ombudsman. Reported there actions and was told Ombudsmen not prepared to do anything as case closed and South Cambs "promised to be better". Department should be closed down as such a waste of everyone's time and money.
I'm off to commit a few crimes now and hoping if get caught, police ask me to promise not to do it again then let me go. As long as I have my fingers crossed I think I will be ok ;)

An appalling organisation which is totally dysfunctional and basically incompetent. I speak as somebody who has been notified by LGSCO that it has found Midlands Partnership(Staffordshire County Council Adult Social Services) of a finding of maladministration against Midlands Partnership. The LGSCO would only investigate part of my complaint.
My advice to anyone else is don't waste your time with this incompetent organisation. Instead put in Subject Access Requests to the authorities being complained about.I have just received the results of my latest SAR to Midlands Partnership. Fifty seven pages confirming that Midlands Partnership had lied to LGSCO and the LGSCO were complicit in this mendacity. However, I have all of the information that I need with dates, data and more importantly the names of those involved. I intend to put all of this information in due course in the public domain.No need for me to go for an expensive judicial review when all of the information is in my possession.
Thank you LGSCO for assisting me due to your incompetence.!!!!!

As nasty an organisation as you can get. Dealing with them is like dealing with school kids and being back at primary school. They cannot answer simple questions, discriminate, patronise, refuse to accept complaints. They are a bunch of egos on a power trip. The worst thing I can say about this ombudsman is that their behaviour is worse than the council they investigate and it’s funded by the taxpayer. A complete waste of space

Thoroughly disappointed with the services, my case was closed without any notification. When i called to find out what happened the investigator basically said i posted a message on the portal and got no error messages so it's not my fault. My case was dismissed with them heavily siding with the local planning authority even when I've provided 25 documents and emails including an acknowledgement that they were wrong once i appointed a legal specialist who was paid at my expense. This issue has cost a working class family thousands of pounds in unnecessary tick box costs, has caused several anxiety issues and took a year and three separate applications for a simple approval. The financial burden has forced us to sell our family home to pay off credit cards while my partner was pregnant, thanks for making me waste even more of my time on a pointless endeavour.

Do not Trust LGSCO Investigator Matthew King or His Manager Assistant Ombudsman Suzanne De Planta. Consumers are not Satisfied with this Business or The Conduct of Staff Members. The Reviews on here are a Reflection of this. 98% of TrustPilot Reviews Regarding this Organisation Only Have a One Star Rating. I Was Directed to this Organisation by Housing Ombudsman Adjudicator Jenny Tilling (Case Reference ID : 202108038) Regarding the Bad Handling of a Community Trigger / ASB Review by The Local Authority (Ref : 040223) HO Adjudicator Jenny Tilling stated to me that the Handling of Community Triggers / ASB Reviews comes under the "Jurisdiction" of the LGSCO to Investigate. The LGSCO & HO are Simply a "Delaying Extension" of the Local Authorities Complaint Process funded by the MHCLG and assists Corrupt Council's & their Black & White Lies not Members of the Public. The Ethnics of this Company are Questioned by a Significant Number of Reviewers all stating this Organisation does not Protect or Assist Members of the Public. The LGSCO & HO are Services that "Protect" Landlords / Local Authorities...not Consumers & Members of the Public. Tenants who don't want to live in "Sub-standard" Accommodation where Social Housing Providers are "Breaking the Housing Rules & Regulations" have to take their own Action & not solely rely on the LGSCO or HO These Organisations will "Protect" the Landlord at all costs...regardless of how much rock solid evidence you submit. Civil Servants are NOT above the Law. Bevan Brittan Ref : (BB-M.F106023546)

An extension of the councils complaint process, waste of time. Agency set up to fool the public into thinking that the council will be held accountable or that any reccomendations will be enforced.
Only plus is you might finally get a council apology and reply to your query, but this is after several months of waiting and they provide you with a standard answer they should have in the first place.

I mean even in the first reply notification regarding my complaint the confidently says "You have the right to escalate your complaint at any time via the LGSO Ombudsman..." says it all. all not fit for purpose, and don't serve the vulnerable or local people, the council are probably waiting for a envelope full of cash to land on their desk before they treat us with care.

The LGO (Local Government Ombudsman) is a completely ineffective and bureaucratic black hole. Despite clearly following the correct complaint process with Transport for London and providing all the documentation, they’ve done nothing but bounce back the case with template responses and zero initiative. Their refusal to engage or even acknowledge the substance of the issue is appalling.

It’s outrageous that this organisation is funded by public money. If this is what government grants are supporting, layers of pointless admin instead of actual help; then funding should be cut immediately. They serve no practical purpose for citizens seeking accountability from public bodies.

Useless, Birmingham City Council referred them to me, i was told they cant and wont do anything about missed bin collections. Literally will have you going around in circles, i will be booking time off all my rubbish will be delivered directly to the case worker who dealt with my query Robert Heath

I guess the one positive is some of the complaints are looked at quite quickly but that is about the only redeeming feature. I have raised a few complaints about our local authority. One triage manager has failed to recognise that I had used proper complaints process and the LA had underhandedly not treated my complaint as a complaint. The triage manager was forcing me to get a response that I had no control over. This has led to a delay by 3 months in my complaint being looked at. Another investigator seems to be using AI to respond to questions so that what he writes is unintelligible and does not relate to the specific question being asked. The internal complaints system to LGO is nonsense - either hand your complaint to the case worker or send a snail mail to an anonymous address (no title given). Feedback on the website is not feedback, but just a demographics data gathering exercise. Obviously, like the Local Authorities, are gaming the system so their inadequecies are not reported. Just another corrupt civil service in the UK.

This organisation is useless to complain about social services. They apparently are unable to assess if social services have provided an adequate budget to support a person with learning disabilties and are not trained to tell if SS are contravening the Care Act. All they can do is see if your complaint to SS has been investigated and if a lead disability person from SS (who has never met the person in question) has written one e-mail about it that is considered sufficient!

I turned to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman ("LGSCO" / "LGO"), hoping for an impartial referee. Instead, I found a body that bends over backwards to defend councils while stonewalling disabled complainants like me.

1. Dismissive, box-ticking “investigations”:

1.1. Despite the London Borough of Newham Council admitting multiple faults (wrongly recording my name, delaying a Stage-2 review by nine months, giving unclear instructions about student council-tax discount, failing to grant my student council tax discount, etc.), the LGO refused to investigate because the “likely fault has not caused significant injustice.”

1.2. The investigator decided that a then-unpaid token £100 from Newham Council was a sufficient remedy and closed the case without even asking the council to put things right or prove if/when they paid said remedy.

2. Equality Act? What Equality Act?:

2.1. I repeatedly asked for reasonable adjustments (plain-English emails only, numbered paragraphs). Instead I received unreadable portal messages and generic letters.

2.2. When I complained, an assessment manager, coolly replied that the Equality Act does not require the LGO to answer as many questions as I might want to ask. That contemptuous tone tells you everything about their attitude to disabled people.

3. Threats instead of answers:

3.1. After I requested a review, the LGO warned that if I tried judicial review, they would pursue me for £2,000 to £3,000 in costs — an intimidation tactic more befitting an aggressive law firm than a public-service ombudsman.

4. Stonewalling service-complaint process:

4.1. When I lodged a formal service complaint under the Equality Act detailing unreadable correspondence and an unqualified “readability analysis” of my disability-related emails, the response ducked every substantive point and blamed “human error,” offering only another hollow apology.

5. Forcing litigants into court:

5.1. Their own solicitor later bragged that the Ombudsman’s findings show my claim is “trivial,” and threatened cost orders if I pursued the matter.

5.2. The watchdog’s default stance seems to be: Save councils money at any cost — even if that means crushing the citizen.

6. Bottom line:

6.1. The LGO markets itself as “independent and fair.” My experience shows it is anything but.

6.2. If you are disabled, expect patronising brush-offs, procedural hurdles, and veiled cost threats.

6.3. The organisation that should champion accountability has instead become a gatekeeper, shielding local authorities from scrutiny.

6.4. Use with extreme caution — and don’t count on them for justice.