Ombudsman releases council complaints data for the North West for 2024-25

Complaints about Education and Children’s services are still dominating the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s casework in the North West according to its annual review of local government complaints.

Published today, the review shows a continued increase in the Ombudsman’s caseload nationally, with a record number of complaints received, exceeding 20,000 for the first time.In-depth data analysis for the North West showed:11% of complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman were from this region.

The 2,210 complaints received equated to 29.1 complaints per 100,000 residents, below the average across all regions of 35.0.32% of complaints and enquiries received were about Children and Education, above the average for all regions of 28%.

However, the 9.2 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category remained below the average of 9.8 for all regions.16% of complaints and enquiries received were about Adult Care Services.

This was above the average for all regions of 14%. The 4.7 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents stood just below the average of 4.8 for all regions.Just 9% of complaints and enquiries received were about Housing, well below the average of 18% for all regions.

The 2.5 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category stood well below the average of 6.3 for all the regions, higher only than Yorkshire and the Humber (2.5) and the North East (1.8).The overall uphold rate for the region stood at 82%, just below the average of 83% for all regions.

A total of 357 upheld decisions equated to 4.7 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents, ahead only of Yorkshire and the Humber (4.6) and the North East (3.0) and well below the average of 6.1 for all regions.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:“Sitting at the apex of the complaint system for English local authorities, the complaints we receive – and the faults we find – can act as a bellwether for the state of local services across the country.

“We are receiving a higher number of complaints year-on-year and upholding those complaints in greater numbers. This reflects how systemic some of the issues across local government are.

“I appreciate national pressures in the key areas of Special Educational Needs, availability of housing and adult care are putting enormous strain on local authorities, but we still hold them accountable to the law and guidance and the high standards people expect from their local services. We are finding more fault, but I welcome their overwhelming compliance with the recommendations we make.”

On a national level, 83 per cent of all Ombudsman investigations carried out were upheld and compliance with recommendations remained high at 99.7%

Across the country, Education and Children’s Services made up 27% of the Ombudsman’s caseload and 47 per cent of all upheld investigations. The Ombudsman found fault in 91% of all Education and Children’s complaints, and 94% of cases involving special educational needs provision.

Housing cases accounted for 17% of all cases received, which is a higher proportion than last year. Of those cases investigated, the Ombudsman upheld 85%, with issues remaining particularly acute in the London area.

The third highest area of casework was adult care services, taking 13% of the Ombudsman’s workload – a slightly smaller proportion than last year. Of these, 78% of investigations carried out were upheld.The report, along with data for each local authority in England is available on the Ombudsman’s website.