Guidance notes for Local authorities

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Dear Local Government Ombudsmen,

Please confirm what the status of your guidance notes is? Please confirm whether these guidance notes are circulated to local authorities and provide copies of any advice provided to local authorities about the status of such guidance.

Yours faithfully,

Alison Hood

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Ms Hood

Our current guidance notes are available on our website at http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/advic...

I don't know what you mean when you ask about their status. Can you clarify? They are advisory, if that's what you mean.

We have in the past sent copies to local authorities when they are first published. We do not give local authorities any advice on their status other than what is written in the guidance notes themselves.

More recent advisory publications have been our Focus reports. See http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/advic....

These have not been printed and are only available on the website, but we do alert local authorities to their existence by email.

If you can provide clarification, I will try and respond further, otherwise that concludes my response. If you feel I have not dealt properly with your request, you have the right to appeal and, should you wish to do so, I can supply a copy our internal complaints procedure. If you do request an internal review – can you please indicate why you are unhappy with my response? You also have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner to determine whether your request has been properly dealt with. You should note however that the
Commissioner will not consider any complaint where you have not first exhausted our internal complaints process or where there has been undue delay in contacting him. You will be able to obtain further details of the Information Commissioner’s role from the website on www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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Dear Ms Pook,

Thank you for your response.

You have confirmed that the status of LGO guidance is advisory rather than binding. I am interested to discover the purpose for which such advisory guidance is issued. What is the intended effect? For example, does the LGO perceives its guidance to represent 'best practice'?

I would be grateful for copies of any internal documents on the power to issue such guidance, as well as the drafting and purpose of such guidance.

Yours sincerely,

Alison Hood

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Ms Hood

The Local Government Act 1974 says, at Part III, S.23(12A):

"the Commission may, after consultation with the representative persons and authorities concerned, provide to the authorities or any of the authorities to which this Part of this Act applies such advice and guidance about good administrative practice as appears to the Commission to be appropriate and may arrange for it to be published for the information of the public."

(This part of the Act is available on our website at http://www.lgo.org.uk/guidance-on-jurisd...)

Issuing guidance is also covered in our mission statement and strategic objectives, also on our website at http://www.lgo.org.uk/about-us/mission-a...

That concludes my response. If you feel I have not dealt properly with your request, you have the right to appeal and, should you wish to do so, I can supply a copy our internal complaints procedure. If you do request an internal review – can you please indicate why you are unhappy with my response? You also have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner to determine whether your request has been properly dealt with. You should note however that the Commissioner will not consider any complaint where you have not first exhausted our internal complaints process or where there has been undue delay in contacting him. You will be able to obtain further details of the Information Commissioner’s role from the website on www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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