LG & SC Ombudsman Reviews 

I can't give a rating lower than a single star but would if I could do so. The LG and SC ombudsman is a simply a laundry service for local council misdeeds - clearly biased in favour of local councils, staff show arrogance and impatience with follow up mails, will refuse to take further mails or phone calls to discuss cases rudely putting down the phone, and will literally excuse themselves implying clearly that they are "too busy to do their jobs".
It is clear that a strong bias exists wherein their decisions are arbitrary, final, with subliminal intention to just reduce the backlog, rather than correctly, methodically investigate complaints.
To add insult and humiliation the Ombudsman advises the local council miscreant of their decision without delay, often before clients see a judgement themselves, giving council further extension and mandate to carry on with mal-administrative policies.
I learned that the LGSCO is a place where unwary ordinary citizens go to in good faith to have their hopes of arbitration squandered as no element of arbitration takes place at all
This department is so clearly unfit for purpose along with it's staff such as Ursula Finch et al that the Minister for Local Government should close the current service down, clear out it's cache of non-cooperative staff and rebuild trust in the system.
The web shows ample comment that Councils are aware that the LG and SC ombudsman's verdicts carry no weight at all and they can either take it for granted that the LGSCO will always err in their own favour or they can simply ignore any forthcoming judgements because there are no consequences.
The system is totally lame and no doubt expensive to maintain - it appears, regardless of it's benign title to have all the hallmarks of an official scam primarily intended to close down council complaints.

I do not know what the public have to do to get any investigation or support from this excuse of an organisation. This time Devon CC have failed to maintain previously walkable verges along a 60 mpg + (as we know) 'A' road. This forces me as a pensioner to walk in the traffic or try jumping up a 3ft muddy slippery weed ridden bank when cars speed past to reach part of my land (or wade across a river!). The general public must do the same to reach bus stops and rambling footpaths. DCC invite reporting of such a danger then refuse to do anything. The LGO under delegated powers meaning some office person shuffles the emails, deny my complaint re FLOODING?? I then talk to a brick wall and they have the power to simply shut down further communication. DCC now say they have stopped a lot of verge maintenance due to climate and biodiversity to encourage flora and wildlife!!! So officially the well being of nettles, brambles, thistles, hogweed, poisonous Hemlock and legally requiring removal Himalayan balsam is valued over human life??? As for wildlife there are rats and a deer crossing where they get killed and a request for a deer warning sign refused by DCC. My life is below that of a rat. Imagine having to walk in the North Circular to reach part of your garden but the LGO have no comprehension. At least i have it documented should i be knocked over. Maybe i shouldn't complain as my card will be marked for the future but over several serious valid complaints in the past every one is refused. One where a Council prosecutes for illegality during an LGO investigation! prior to result, conceals evidence, hides records for years, lies in court then years later writes to admit oops no actual illegality while keeping a resident vexatious for 7 years without review and lies in FOIs receives a 'nothing to see here'. I think it is pointless to try and get help. Save your blood pressure and time and give up knowing the LGO will never act against Local Councils or organisations in the obvious wrong.

Not fit for purpose.spend more time looking for ways to avoid doing an investigation than undertaking one.
Remove any funding they get.

Agree with the other comments on here. It is comforting in some odd sort of way that we're all having the same sort of experience, even though it is tragic at the same time.

Agree with others, that this organization is not fit for purpose.

I had a complaint about my local Chidren's Services. My daughter was taken illegally by her mother, against the court orders, and it resulted in her attempting suicide. Children's services did nothing about the situation, ignoring my regular warnings about the risks of her being with her mother, until it was too late. I believe this was down to institutional sexism and incompetence on their part.

Made a complaint direct to the local authority, they refused to accept responsibility for what had happened, so I kept on going to the next stage. Eventually it got to the LGSCO.

The LGSCO gave the local authority every benefit of the doubt on every decision they took, despite the serious outcome for my daughter. When the local authority didn't meet deadlines to respond to enquiries, the LGSCO just gave them more time.

The LGSCO refused to consider substantial parts of my complaint, dismissing them as outside of their remit, because 'they are not a regulator'.

When I pointed out factual errors and logical inconsitencies in the local authorities' argument as to how they had conducted themselves, the LGSCO just said they were 'satisfied ' that the local authority were not at fault, with no explanation why, or why my argument was invalid, and they made no attempt to engage with the facts whatsoever.

It seems clear that this organisation exists just to try and exonerate the local authorities wherever possible, whatever they may have done. I wonder where their funding comes from?

The (minor) remedial measures they recommended in my case were completely ignored by the council, and after complaining again to the LGSCO about that, they said there was nothing they could do! Absolutely no teeth, or willingness to use them on the local authorities. Not worth your time.

The worst part is that this means that effectively the local authorities are unaccountable to anyone, as the LGSCO certainly isn't going to hold them to account.

I agree with other users - they should be scrapped, and replaced with something that actually tries to hold local authorities accountable. But I don't see that happening.

Don't get your hopes up - they aren't going to be on your side...

Local Government Ombudsman is on the Broxbourne council's side. Local Government Ombudsman supports the Broxbourne council to ignore it's citizens. There's no logic in what they do and they have the support from the law because the Local Government Ombudsman decision is final and there's nowhere to turn if there would have been a mistake on their side, totally unacceptable.

Not fit for purpose and should be closed forthwith. No accountability and in my case a complete disregard for the law. It does not even deserve one star . I do not know what the well paid staff are employed to do. I found them in my case to be rude , lazy and incompetent. Everyone should complain direct to the MP , PM ( direct - let him be accountable ) and the press. Make it an general election issue Hopeless and inept and organization. It has a blatant " We do not care attitude that you suffer at every single level" from the top downwards . I served a Freedom of Notice and Subject Access request to see exactly what the LGO actually looked at when it assessed my case. The response is frightening. Everyone should do so that way the LGO are held to account and if necessary go to Court against it .

The LGSCO is just a complete waste of time. I contacted them about my local council and instead of dealing with my complaint they referred it back to the LA who surprisingly concluded that they were right. I took my complaint back to the LGSCO who then said they wouldn't investigate my case unless I supplied them with new evidence which I did, but they claimed my evidence was just me telling the same old story so there's need to reopen the case. I gave them 1 star because I couldn't leave zero stars.

Not worthy of one star

Betrayal
Collusion
Corruption
Coverup
Duplicity
Failure
Gaslighting
Incompetence
Lies
Manipulation
Obfuscation
Pathetic
Stonewalling

I will be naming on 'X' lgscocoverups

Totally biased review of care home for the elderly in the North East of England. The final report utilised mostly wording and information, all be it wrong, supplied by the care home and did not take into account information provided by my wife and me in her complaint.

The Ombudsman was advised of factual matters and these were ignored. Clear errors in the report were pointed out but they chose to leave the errors and finalise with these errors.

All the time and effort to try to strive to get better service from care providers has come to nothing and it appears the Ombudsman has no wish to drive to improve the care sector. Just fobbed of with no proper examination of the facts. I cannot recommend using this service, you may as well bang your head against a brick wall.

My son was killed by « services » and 2 others horrifically failed while we were under attack from them. The LGSCO made it 100 times worse. Rude, slow, lazy, cold. There to cover it all up and refusing to investigate properly. Demanding evidence from me while taking the LA at its word. No idea of the law or common sense. Toxic. Terrifying. Sick.

What a complete waste of time this department is, they are completely useless. I see on Trustpilot they have 99 per cent 1 star reviews. now i know why, I had a very legitimatre case against BCP council social services and them writing incorrect reports with misinformation and wrong facts for a court. I complained to LGO and this departmernt who is supposed to help people were absolutely useless. Dont bother with them. They are like a toothless tiger. they dont help or support anyone, they spend all their time writing to you to tell you why they cant help you. I think its time we abolished them. all they do is support the people you are complaing against.

I'm sure the Ombudsman must do some good work, and having since found out how powerless they are I don't necessarily dispute the decision in my own complaint against the local council. However, the whole process of attempting to complain is awful. Starting with the initial form, having to chop pieces out of your text to meet the word count and not being able to submit the evidence you want to, hoping that there will be a subsequent opportunity. But no, they make a decision based solely on your initial submission, without so much as an email or phonecall to discuss the matter. The person who makes the decision is of course uncontactable and the response letter makes you feel as if you're the one in the wrong. If you then dispute the decision, it is 'rubber stamped' as correct by a manager. Your only recourse after that being the High Court (got deep pockets!). No wonder councils get away with what they do at times.

Is there a zero star score? Do not waste time with them. Go to court as a in person litigant. If you claim less than £ 10,000 you will not face significant costs even if you loose. They have no powers to enforce any of their decisions. They recommended actions in my case and the local authority is dragging their feet 12 months since the final decision and all they said to me was that they cannot do anything about it.

I've had my 'case closed' within 2 weeks yet in a later message it says 'case accepted'
What a rubbish website, they need to talk in plain English and communicate better.
Does anyone know what these two statements mean?

If I could give zero I would don’t waste your time they will never help never ask for your point of view and in my opinion will favour with the councils !! Just to say the government gives these disabled facilities grants to help people like ourselves but the way O.T and the councils act it’s like it’s there money !!

Zero stars, but have to tick something!
I used the social care ombudsman and was wholly dissatisfied with their service. I initially complained to my local authority about the care for a family member and myself as a carer. The Council brought in an independent investigator to throw my claim out. The independent investigator stated information in their report that did not happen and was factually wrong.
My local authority is conservative lead, and out of all the people available, they assigned the case to a person who was/is affiliated and a prominent member of their local conservative party. I also spoke to my MP, who is also conservative. Despite the factual information, they were unconcerned and appeared to be another person protecting their interest with diversion tactics.
Like most people on this web page, my information was solid, including video evidence. Unfortunately, as with councils, many social care ombudsman investigators will create a narrative to fit their agenda, especially if the claim could cause the council to pay a financial sum.
My family member and I received no justice, and the organisations involved demonstrated corrupt practices; if the information provided to an investigator is factually wrong regarding alleged incidents against a person and the investigator ignores the tangible facts, then I can only use the term corrupt.
The councils in England are significantly protected, and I found lawyers were not prepared to take cases on, but there are other types of cases lawyers will happily engage in no win, no fee! For me, this further demonstrates the odds an individual faces against councils.
Oh, and if your complaint involves one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, they will find an investigator that mirrors the claim. If your issue involves transitioning, if they have a transgender investigator, they will assign this person your case, and you will lose. If you are black and believe you have been discriminated against, they will bring Malcolm X’s reference to those who worked in the field and those who worked in the house (Malcolm X 1963). I suppose everyone has bills to pay.
“Unfortunately, until this organisation is reformed, you must take your matters to court. They know this and work on the fact that people can’t afford to do this. This organisation needs to be disbanded.” (Ref Helen Review 29 May 2023). People run the risk of losing their homes in this process. Courts of this type are for wealthy people.
I want the BBC or Channel 4 to make a documentary about this complaint process, so if they read this page, please reach out; I would engage with a documentary, and indeed many others would also.

My experience significantly impacted my mental health in a deliberately drawn-out process over the years.

I asked the lgo for a review. However the review was prejudiced more of a kangaroo court.
They claim there has to be legal grounds for a review. There were legal grounds; their judgement was purely opinion based and opinions can be challenged in court!
If your outcome was purely based on opinion and not the facts or they refused to consider the facts then the outcome is void. Unfortunately until this organisation is reformed you will have to take your matters to court. They know this and the work on the fact that people can’t afford to do this.
This organisation needs to be disbanded.

Unfortunately what this organisation is stating (that they’re doing a fab job of public accountability displayed by some boastful graphics) is somewhat misleading. Regardless of the complaints that have been investigated and upheld, these appear in some cases to share similarities with my own current experiences, which shows only one thing – that the recommendations aren’t sticking and Councils lapse back into their old, unlawful ways and continue to harm future victims of their ineptitude. It’s an illusion of accountability and a pretty pointless organisation (they won’t re-look into previous complaints unless the complainant comes forward) which I don’t believe is fair and thorough enough (for example without cross-examination on witness testimony), so I’m taking my service failings to Court to be heard by a Judge instead.

One star too many.
Complaint about the appalling Cheshire East staff actions and their contractor's after the disgusting bodge up of a Wet room, unhygienic situation they have left my mother in,the lack of duty of care, bulling tactics and a list of inadequacies.
The cover up of LGO staff inadequate in doing their job, lack of respect and understanding.
How they can sleep at night is beyond us all.

My experience with the local government and social care ombudsmans was a good one dispite the many negative reviews here.

I understand some of the reviews here and went through the selection process that many describe in earlier reviews with a strong case that potentially affected many people.

My experience was that the LGSCO was not to just there to agree with what I thought and said.

There investigation looked at what had happened from my perspective and the local authorities, reviewed decisions and upheld my complaint. The investigator also corrected some of my misconceptions or expectations of the process.

I was a little disappointed that more of the evidence was not reviewed or updated but we were greatful that our case had been taken on, injustices sorted while as advised by the ombudsmans service they could not sort out the corruption that had taken place. That maybe possible through other authorities now we have the positive outcome. Which can be more than a little confusing.

By studying many of the regulations it did not mean that I understood all of a very complex process and regulations that made up the decisions or that the situation is completely resolved.

Reviewing all evidence provided as you go along is a key aspect within the process. You can not rely on the information supplied by the other parties involved as being truthful and you will need to be prepared to put in the time and effort to go through the process meeting deadlines for responces set by the investigators.

What has been decided is a central key which will allow a review of many situations and hopefully allow a resolution of the wider issues with my problems with the local authority.

I note many people's disappointed reviews.
My hope in writing this review is that it will not put anyone off who believes that they have a strong case covering injustice, especially when everyone else will not answer a complaint and you have nowhere else to turn due to the situation.

In going through what sometimes may seem a daunting case review and process my advice is to read the Local Government Ombudsman website and talk to there helplines for advice. This helps especially when you are not academic and used to dealing with official issues.

The service was also helpful by providing audio version of there communications as I am dyslexic.

Thank you Local Government Ombudsman Service.