Local authorities across England will today be receiving their annual complaints data from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

This data is published on the Ombudsman’s updated online map giving details for each authority of the volume of complaints dealt with, complaints upheld, satisfactory remedies already provided, and compliance with Ombudsman recommendations.

This year the Ombudsman has released the data sooner to support councils in providing more comprehensive information on the complaints they receive for people in their area to scrutinise.

The Ombudsman’s data for 2024-25 shifts the emphasis from percentages (in upheld, satisfactory remedies and compliance) to include absolute numbers of complaints. This follows feedback from local authorities about how useful the data can be and helps to provide additional context for those looking at councils’ performance.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“We are releasing this data today in response to councils’ requests to receive information earlier to help with their own reporting cycles on the complaints they receive.

“We will continue to publish more detailed national and regional data analysis, alongside our annual review of complaints and associated spreadsheets, in July.”

Article date: 21 May 2025

News - Date Friday | 23 May 2025
Case 983/2025/MAS - Opened on Wednesday | 21 May 2025 - Institution concerned European Commission - Country Belgium

• Complaint submitted 18/04/2025

• Analysis of the complaint 22/04/2025

• Inquiry ongoing 21/05/2025

The European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has opened an inquiry concerning how the European Commission prepared a legislative proposal as part of its omnibus package of simplification measures.

The decision to open an inquiry follows a complaint by eight civil society organisations who argue that the Commission breached its Better Regulation Guidelines by failing to justify why it did not carry out a public consultation or impact assessment on the draft legislation.

The complainants also argue that the Commission should have conducted a climate consistency assessment as foreseen by the European Climate Law.

At this stage of the inquiry, the Ombudswoman has asked the Commission a series of questions. They centre on the stakeholder consultations listed by the Commission in the explanatory memorandum accompanying its legislative proposal.

They include a request for more detail about which companies and stakeholders were invited to meetings with the Commission in early February 2025 and using what criteria.

The Commission is also asked to explain its decision not to carry out a public consultation.

This complaint is the third received by the Ombudsman's Office in relation to whether the Commission has followed the necessary rules as it prepares legislative proposals.

Of the two other complaints, one led to an inquiry (ongoing) concerning how the Commission prepared a proposal to amend legislation related to the Common Agricultural Policy and the other is still in the initial assessment stage by the Ombudsman's Office.

Deputy Ombudsman Saša Rajić and advisor Anica Tomšić participated in the meeting of the South East Europe NPM Network (SEE NPM) in Ljubljana on 13 and 14 May 2025.

During these two days, representatives of nine national preventive mechanisms for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (NPMs) from the region shared their experiences on the implementation of the European Commission Recommendation 2022 (C(2022) on the procedural rights of pre-trial detainees, and on the second day, a site visit was held to visit the construction site of a new prison in Ljubljana.

At the end of the meeting, conclusions were drawn, emphasizing that pre-trial detention should be used as a measure of last resort, subject to periodic judicial review, and that alternative measures should be systematically considered for minor crimes or when vulnerable groups are involved. The competent authorities should ensure that pre-trial detainees have effective access to a lawyer and a professional interpreter during their deprivation of liberty. NPMs can contribute to better respect for the procedural rights of pre-trial detainees by monitoring and reporting on the situation and conditions where violations of procedural rights may create risks of torture and ill-treatment. During the meeting, NPM representatives also visited the construction site of a new prison in Ljubljana. The meeting was organized by the NPM of Slovenia, which chairs the Network this year. You can find out more about the work of the Ombudsman institution through the NPM mandate here and here (in Croatian).

El Defensor del Pueblo ha iniciado una actuación para reclamar a las administraciones que afronten conjuntamente, y lo antes posible, la situación de las personas vulnerables que pernoctan en el Aeropuerto Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas en condiciones precarias. Así, ha solicitado información al Ayuntamiento de Madrid y ha ampliado una actuación abierta desde el mes de marzo con Aena para que explicaran cómo tienen previsto abordar esta situación de emergencia social.

Asimismo, Ángel Gabilondo propone mantener un encuentro tanto con el alcalde de Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, como con el presidente de AENA, Maurici Lucena, con el objetivo prioritario de atender las necesidades de esas personas y garantizar sus derechos fundamentales, en definitiva, para tratar la situación de los cientos de personas que cada noche duermen en las distintas terminales del aeropuerto.

La institución lleva meses preocupada por esta problemática que se da en varios aeropuertos españoles pero que adquiere especial gravedad en las instalaciones aeroportuarias de Barajas.

Ángel Gabilondo visitó, la noche del pasado 15 de mayo, la terminal cuatro de Barajas y tuvo la oportunidad de comprobar in situ la situación de las personas que duermen, algunos desde hace meses, en el aeropuerto. Conversó con algunas de ellas y pudo conocer de primera mano sus casos.

El Defensor de Pueblo se reunió, también, el 16 de mayo, con miembros de la Mesa de la Hospitalidad de la Diócesis de Madrid que le hicieron entrega de un estudio, elaborado por ellos, en el que se analiza la realidad de las personas que pernoctan actualmente en el aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas.

La institución Defensor del Pueblo solicita al Ayuntamiento de Madrid concretamente información sobre la intervención que vienen realizando los servicios sociales municipales para atender adecuadamente a las personas sin hogar presentes en las terminales del aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas, y sobre el resultado de la coordinación establecida con la entidad de gestión aeroportuaria y el resto de las administraciones concernidas.

Por otra parte, Ángel Gabilondo se vuelve a dirigir a AENA, tras haberlo hecho el 13 marzo como consecuencia de trabajos previos iniciados en el mes de febrero, en relación a la situación de las personas que habitan y pernoctan en las instalaciones de los distintos aeropuertos del Estado, fundamentalmente persona sin hogar, y prioritariamente en los aeropuertos del Prat y Barajas Y pregunta por el resultado de sus actuaciones durante estos meses.

Asimismo, en esta ampliación de actuaciones se solicita a AENA información acerca de las medidas anunciadas sobre control reforzado de los accesos de personas a las instalaciones del aeropuerto de Barajas, en horario nocturno. Interesa al Defensor del Pueblo conocer el alcance de la medida anunciada y su fundamento jurídico.

The Ombudsman Institution sent letters to the Minister of Interior Daniel Mitov and to the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection Teodora Ivanova to request a full investigation into the case of the beaten 11-year old boy in the town of Loukovit on 27 April 2025.

30 April 2025

The Ombudsman Institution sent letters to the Minister of Interior Daniel Mitov and to the Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection Teodora Ivanova to request a full investigation into the case of the beaten 11-year old boy in the town of Loukovit on 27 April 2025.

The letters responded to complaints from angry citizens and the tension that arose in Loukovit after the boy’s father found him with two broken arms and thrown into the local river.

The citizens and relatives of the injured boy want justice. As the father said, after he went to report to the police, he was ignored and it was only after the protests around the mayor’s office and the prosecutor’s office that the police acted. Initially, the committer of the crime was detained and released 24 hours later.

The case was reported to a prosecutor on duty from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Lovech and pre-trial proceedings were instituted as per Art. 129 of the Criminal Code while the police continues to act.

“The Ombudsman Institution condemns any violence against children and insists on your full investigation into the case. We appeal to the responsibility of each of us for the life, health and well-being of every child in Bulgaria,” the Secretary General of the Ombudsman Dr. Aysun Avdjiev writes to the top officials of the Ministry of Interior and of the State Agency for Child Protection.