Local Government Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsmen investigate complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. There are three Local Government Ombudsmen in England and they each deal with complaints from different parts of the country. They investigate complaints about most council matters including housing, planning, education, social services and council tax.

The objective of the Ombudsmen is to secure, where appropriate, satisfactory redress for complainants and better administration for the authorities. The Ombudsman also works with local authorities to ensure that their own internal complaints procedures are efficient and effective. Complaints to the Ombudsman will not usually be considered until the complainant has sought redress through the local authority's own complaints system.

The Ombudsman's decisions are not binding but such is the reputation of the Ombudsman that there is almost 100% compliance with their recommendations.

The Ombudsmen are:
Tony Redmond - who deals with complaints from north London, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, and Sussex;
Anne Seex - who deals with complaints from Birmingham City, Solihull MBC, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire and the north of England; and
Jerry White - who deals with complaints from the rest of England and who will leave office in September.

All new complaints go to the LGO Advice Team based at the Coventry office. The Ombudsman employs 198 staff in total.

The Ombudsman receives around 18,000 complaints every year, although some 7,500 of these are either premature or outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction and will not be considered. A complaint results in a settlement of the complaint or a finding of fault by the Ombudsman in just over a quarter of cases. [sentence not related to request omitted].

The role of the Ombudsman is being expanded to include schools, to ensure that parents' complaints are managed in a straightforward and open way and to strengthen the complaints procedure, for instance for parents whose children experience bullying. The Ombudsman's remit is also being expanded to provide redress for self-funders of adult social care.

Funding

The Local Government Ombudsman's service is free. This Department funds the work of the Ombudsman, with the department of Health and DCSF contributing in future to fund schools and social care work. The Ombudsman's budget for 2009-2010 is £16.3m.

Commission for Local Administration in England

The formal title for the Local Government Ombudsman is the Commission for Local Administration in England. Tony Redmond is the Chair of the Commission, Jerry White is the Vice-Chair. The new appointment will be both an Ombudsman and the Vice-Chair of the Commission, which is a single, combined, post.