Last month we:

• responded to 75 enquiries
• made 65 decisions
  • 19 community care grants
  • 46 crisis grants
• upheld 53% of community care grants and 22% of crisis grants
• signposted an additional 119 applicants to other sources of assistance. 80% of these were calling us instead of their local council in error. Fourteen applicants told us that they had issues getting in touch with their local council as they as there was no freephone number and/or they encountered issues applying online
• received eight enquiries from councils seeking advice

Support and Intervention Policy

We escalated two new issues under level one of our Support and Intervention Policy. These concerned failing to record the decision in line with the guidance and incorrectly interpreting the available information. We also escalated a further issue, around failing to meet decision timescales, to level two.

Case studies

In recent weeks we have observed issues with councils incorrectly interpreting the available information. One example is highlighted below:

Incorrect interpretation of available information

Incorrect interpretation of available information C requested an independent review of the Council's decision on their crisis grant application. They applied for assistance with their food, gas and electricity as they had received a lower income due to being off work ill. As a result, they had struggled to manage their living costs.

The Council declined the application as no bank statement had been provided, and because C had received their benefit payment a few days prior to their application. C explained they did not have online banking and were too unwell to go to the bank to get a statement. They requested a first tier review of the decision but the Council did not change their original decision, stating that this was because C could not provide a bank statement and they therefore could not be satisfied that the application met the qualifying conditions.

We reviewed the Council’s file and contacted C by phone for further information. C provided a breakdown of how they had spent their income. They confirmed they did not have online banking and could not travel to their bank due to their health issues. We assessed that C provided a reasonable account of their expenditure and around why they could not obtain evidence from their bank. Based on the information available, we were satisfied on balance, that C was facing a crisis situation and that the conditions for an award were met. We changed the Council’s decision on the basis that they had incorrectly interpreted the available information and instructed them to make an award. We also provided feedback about the decision letters not being in line with the requirements of the guidance.

You can find more case studies in the searchable directory on our website.

Updated: January 24, 2024

Amerdeep Somal has now been confirmed as England’s new Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Amerdeep will take up the post on 1 February 2024.

This appointment follows an open recruitment process and scrutiny by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee.

Amerdeep is also a Judge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. She brings a wealth of professional experience to the role having been the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner and the Chief Commissioner at the Data and Marketing Commission. She was a former founding Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

On 1^st January 2024 Ms Somal took up her new role as the Board Chair of the Law Society of England and Wales, which will sit alongside her position as Ombudsman.

Amerdeep said:

“I am delighted to be taking on the hugely important role of Ombudsman, overseeing some of the most vital services provided to people across the country.

“The Ombudsman has a central role both in ensuring that individual complaints are investigated and as a key part of the wider system bringing about systemic change and improvement in local government and social care services. I look forward to taking up the role in February and to working to improve public services at a time of need for so many.”

Amerdeep takes on the role from Paul Najsarek, the interim Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, who remains in post as Ombudsman and Chair of the Commission for Local Administration in England (the board that runs the LGSCO) until 31^st January 2024.

Article date: 18 January 2024

Our SPSO Conference 2023: Supporting Good Complaints Handling in a Changing World took place this year on Thursday 16 November 2023 at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh.

Thank you to all who attended. Following your feedback and questions raised on the day, we are pleased to share the following resources:

• Outcomes from the vulnerability workshop
• FAQs document
• Article ‘Enabling Complaint Handler Wellbeing’ 

Please note that these documents are not official guidance from SPSO.

You can find the resources and further information on the conference web page.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has been compelled to highlight two cases where a council has not acted to put things right in good time.

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has taken too long to carry out the Ombudsman’s recommendations in two separate education complaints, leading the LGSCO to publish reports on both cases.

In the first case, the council agreed to update its transport to education policy for young adults with Special Educational Needs. Despite agreeing to this in 2022, the process is not expected to be complete till Spring 2024.

In the second complaint, the council agreed to improve the service it provides to children who are being home educated, and whose parents want them to return to school. In this case the council failed to apologise to the family who complained, or provide them with a sum for additional tutoring to make up for the missed education.

In both cases, the council has now agreed to fresh recommendations to improve its services along with carrying out the previously agreed actions.

Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"It's essential that councils put in place our recommendations and we will take action to highlight where this is not the case.

“In both these cases the council agreed to our recommendations – and timescales – to put things right for families in its borough, and at no time did it let us know these would not be achievable. These failures can only have compounded the dismay felt by these families following their initial complaints.

“It should not have taken the threat of publicly highlighting these failures for the council to take more urgent action. However, I am pleased the council has agreed to the further recommendations I have made to put things right and will be paying close attention to ensuring these are carried out without delay."

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In the first case the council has agreed to provide the Ombudsman with evidence to show it has carried out actions to issue a revised post-16 transport policy by the end of May 2024.

In the second case, the council has apologised to the family and provided the required payments to them. It has also introduced a range of new measures, including a new policy on elective home education. The team responsible for this service has since been restructured and additional staff employed.

It has introduced additional support for families who want their children to be re-integrated into school and provided staff training on good complaint handling.

Article date: 11 January 2024