News from the Ombudsman - June edition

Edition 8 - June 2019

Welcome...

Welcome to a bumper edition of News from the Ombudsman.

In this edition you'll be able to view our latest video which will help people understand the best time to make a complaint to us.

You can also read about a little-known area of our jurisdiction, some of our recent publications and also where we have contributed to national debates.


New video launched

Complaints video screenshot

This month we've launched a new video to guide people on the best time to come to us with their complaint.

It reminds people that they generally need to complain to their council or care provider before we can investigate.

The video is just one of the ways we are working to make our services, data and complaints information more accessible and transparent for everyone.

Watch the video


Did you know...?

Fire brigade

Did you know that we can investigate complaints about fire authorities in England?

Not many people know about this little-known area of our work, which includes complaints about administrative and operational failures.

This means we can investigate people's concerns over fire brigade provision, training, minimising damage as a result of fire, rescues from road traffic accidents, dealing with spillages and calls to flooding. Fire authorities also have responsibility for enforcing fire safety matters in a range of premises so we can look at complaints about that too.


Complaints guide issued to care providers

Woman in corridor

We've issued a good practice guide which shares lessons from complaints to help adult social care providers improve their services.

Based on our lengthy experience of investigating complaints about independent providers, the guide gives real-life examples of the common problems we see – and offers some ways to avoid the pitfalls.

Common issues we see include a lack of clear information about fees, charges and contracts, problems with billing and invoices, ensuring people’s belongings are looked after properly, and dealing with challenging behaviour from friends and relatives.

Read more


Our parliamentary contributions

Mick King committee appearance, April 2019

Our Ombudsman Michael King appeared at the Education Select Committee which is conducting an in-depth inquiry into the implementation of special education needs (SEN) reforms.

He highlighted common problems we are seeing through the complaints which come to us – last year we upheld an unprecedented 87% of all investigations into SEN and education, health and care plans.

He also gave evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee as part of a session on existing gaps in local accountability and how the redress system could be improved.


Training team update

Alan Park

We seek to use what we learn from complaints to improve local complaint handling. One of the ways we do this is through our training programme for local authorities and adult social care providers.

Our courses cover general effective complaint handling, as well as more tailored content for children’s services, planning and adult social care staff.

Last year we delivered 71 courses to more than 900 delegates. Every delegate who attended our courses said they left feeling more confident in dealing with complaints, carrying out an investigation, writing decision letters and identifying appropriate ways to put things right and learn from complaints.

Read more


New Ministry guidance for councils welcomed

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has issued guidance to councils on how they can better scrutinise complaints to improve services.

Our Ombudsman, Michael King said:

“We welcome the publication of new scrutiny guidance for councils, and in particular the clear recognition of complaints as a vital source of information from those with first-hand experience of using local services. By understanding how their authority responds to - and learns from - complaints, scrutiny committees will be better placed to identify possible areas that might warrant a more detailed examination and ultimately help improve services for all residents.

“We encourage all councils to reflect on this publication and make sure people are at the heart of their approach to service improvement.”

See our scrutiny resources


We welcome enforcement agent body's change

We've welcomed CIVEA's announcement it will no longer review complaints about bailiffs on behalf of its members, which may help to simplify local complaints processes.

The announcement means the Civil Enforcement Association, which represents civil enforcement agents, will be directing people who want to complain about agents employed by local authorities back to the local authority to consider.

Nothing has changed in our jurisdiction. But this will potentially remove a step from the complaints process prior to our involvement, and benefit the person complaining. 

Read our statement


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