Council Complaints & the Local Government Ombudsman

The Ombudsman says the first step is to complain directly to the organisation you are unhappy with, which gives it the opportunity to resolve the problem first.

The Ombudsman has issued a Complaint Handling Code for councils in England, which sets out what you may expect from a council when you complain. The Code is advice and guidance to councils rather than instructions, but the Ombudsman may find maladministration where a council, without good reason, does not meet its standards when responding to your complaint. The Code does not replace statutory complaint processes such as the Children Act 1989 representations procedure.

Once you have completed the council's complaints process and are still unhappy, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). The LGSCO is free to use, and you can complain on someone else's behalf if you have their permission or a legal right to act for them.

• ✓Yes: Most council services, including services the council pays another organisation, such as a private company, to provide
• ✓Yes: Adult social care, whether the council provides the care or you pay for it yourself
• ✓Yes: Some other organisations that provide local public services

The Ombudsman says these are some of the issues it often sees in complaints:

• Delays
• Poor record keeping
• Not taking action when needed
• Not following proper procedures or the law
• Unclear or confusing communication
• Giving incorrect or misleading information
• Failing to investigate properly
• Not doing what was previously agreed

The Ombudsman is not an appeals body or a regulator, so it cannot remake a council's decision or decide whether it would have chosen differently. Before investigating, the Ombudsman must be satisfied that the council has had a reasonable opportunity to investigate and respond, unless it is not reasonable to expect that.

The LGSCO cannot normally look into:

• ✗No: A complaint made more than 12 months after you first knew about the problem
• ✗No: Staff employment or disciplinary matters
• ✗No: Complaints about social housing from council tenants, which go to the Housing Ombudsman
• ✗No: Issues that affect most or all people in an area, such as council tax setting
• ✗No: What happens inside schools
• ✗No: Operating or managing public transport
• ✗No: A matter you can take to a tribunal, a government minister or a court, such as a Housing Benefit appeal or a planning appeal, unless it is not reasonable to expect you to use that route
• ✗No: A complaint that has already been to a court or tribunal, or where you are taking that action now

For a complaint about a council landlord, see our social housing guide; for a planning appeal, see our guide to planning permission.

Where it finds fault causing injustice, the Ombudsman can recommend that a council takes action to improve services or provide a personal remedy. The Complaint Handling Code lists ways a council can put things right:

• ✓Yes: Apologising
• ✓Yes: Acknowledging where things have gone wrong
• ✓Yes: Providing an explanation, assistance or reasons
• ✓Yes: Taking action if there has been delay
• ✓Yes: Reconsidering or changing a decision
• ✓Yes: Amending a record or adding a correction or addendum
• ✓Yes: Providing a financial remedy
• ✓Yes: Changing policies, procedures or practices

The Ombudsman's remedies aim to put you back in the position you would have been in if the fault had not happened, and are not intended to punish the council in the way a court might by awarding damages. Where significant injustice remains after the other remedies, the Ombudsman can recommend a symbolic payment, usually for distress, harm or the risk of harm, or time and trouble.

It can recommend more where distress was especially severe or prolonged or you are vulnerable, and where the risk was particularly severe or harm occurred. Examples of poor complaint handling the Ombudsman gives include the council repeatedly refusing to consider the complaint and your having to ask a councillor or MP to help before it would consider the complaint.

The Ombudsman does not normally:

• ✗No: Award punitive compensation to punish the council
• ✗No: Recommend repaying the costs, such as postage and phone calls, of making your complaint
• ✗No: Recommend remedies that reimburse loss of earnings
• ✗No: Recommend reimbursing fees for a solicitor to help you make your complaint

A council must consider an Ombudsman report that finds fault and, within three months or any longer period the Ombudsman agrees in writing, tell the Ombudsman what action it has taken or proposes to take. If the council does not tell the Ombudsman in time or the Ombudsman is not satisfied with the action, the Ombudsman makes a further report setting out those facts and making recommendations.

The Ombudsman can then require the council to arrange for a statement to be published in a local newspaper, and if the council does not, the Ombudsman arranges it. After considering a report, a council may spend what appears appropriate on a payment to, or another benefit for, a person who suffered injustice.

The law says the Ombudsman shall not investigate action by an authority outside England.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own ombudsman, covered below.

• ✓Yes: The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) looks at complaints about councils after you have gone through the council's complaints procedure.
• ✓Yes: Most public services in Scotland follow a two-stage procedure: the organisation tries to resolve your complaint within five working days at stage 1, and at stage 2 you should be given a final decision after no more than 20 working days, unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time.
• ✓Yes: The SPSO must not consider a complaint made more than 12 months after the day you first had notice of the matter, unless there are special circumstances that make it appropriate.
• ✓Yes: A complaint must be made in writing or electronically unless the SPSO is satisfied there are special circumstances for accepting it orally.
• ✓Yes: Contact the SPSO at spso.org.uk or on 0800 377 7330.

• ✓Yes: The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) can consider complaints about local councils in Wales.
• ✓Yes: It says it is very unlikely to be able to help unless you complained first to the organisation you are unhappy about and your complaint is about an organisation it can look into.
• ✓Yes: A complaint to the PSOW must be made before the end of one year starting on the day you first had notice of the matter, although the PSOW can investigate where it thinks it reasonable.
• ✓Yes: Contact the PSOW at ombudsman.wales or on 0300 790 0203, open 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

• ✓Yes: The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) can deal with complaints about district councils.
• ✓Yes: It may investigate a complaint only if satisfied that you have used and finished the council's complaints handling procedure, unless there are special circumstances which make it proper to do so.
• ✓Yes: Within 2 weeks of its procedure finishing, the council must give you a written notice that it has finished, that you may refer the complaint to the Ombudsman, the time limit for doing so and how to contact the Ombudsman.
• ✓Yes: You must then make your complaint to the Ombudsman within 6 months of the day that notice is sent, although the Ombudsman can investigate later if there are special circumstances which make it proper to do so.

Contact details are on the NIPSO website at nipso.org.uk.

Judicial review lets people with a sufficient interest in a decision or action by a public body ask a judge to review its lawfulness. It should only be used where there is no adequate alternative remedy, such as a right of appeal, and you need the court's permission to proceed.

The claim form must be filed promptly and in any event not later than 3 months after the grounds to make the claim first arose, and the parties cannot extend that time by agreement. For a decision made under the planning acts by the Secretary of State or the local planning authority, the claim form must be filed not later than six weeks after the grounds first arose.

Before making a claim you should send the council a letter before claim in good time, as the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review sets out, and the Protocol applies in England and Wales only. The Legal Aid Agency will not normally grant full representation before the letter before claim has been sent and the council given a reasonable time to respond, but initial funding may be available, for eligible claimants, to cover the work to write it.

An application to the High Court for a mandatory, prohibiting or quashing order, or for a declaration or injunction, is made by judicial review. The Protocol strongly advises you to seek appropriate legal advice as soon as possible when considering proceedings. The law says the Ombudsman shall not investigate action where you have, or had, a remedy by way of court proceedings, but it may do so if satisfied that it is not reasonable to expect you to have used that remedy.

For help paying for legal advice, see our legal aid guide, and for the council's duties on information, see our guide to Freedom of Information requests.