The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino and the Commissioner for Environment and Planning, Perit David Pace particapted in a Public Discussion meeting organised by the Swieqi Local Council.

The Ombudsman set out his Office's experience in dealing with complaints against local government and his Office's development of a complaints handling policy in the nursing homes sector.

The Ombudsman also highlighted the legal obligation on all service providers under his jurisdiction to signpost complaints to his Office

Planning committees should record the reasons for their decisions clearly and this is particularly important when they make decisions that conflict with officers’ recommendations, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has said.

The Ombudsman is warning that decision making should be as open and transparent as possible, particularly in the face of public opposition. However, this was not the case in a recent investigation involving Erewash Borough Council in Derbyshire.