Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)

Overview

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about councils in England (housing, social services, education, planning, council tax, environmental health) and registered adult social care providers (including self-funders). It looks for maladministration causing injustice, and can recommend remedies — apologies, financial redress, and service improvements.

What it handles

• Council complaints after the council's complaints process is complete
• Adult social care provider complaints
• Education admissions and exclusions (council-arranged)
• Housing allocations and homelessness service complaints
• Planning decisions (procedural maladministration only)

What it does not handle

• Most school complaints (Department for Education / school complaints policy)
• Court-imposed decisions
• Matters with a statutory right of appeal (often go to a tribunal instead)

Fees

• Consumers: Free

Deadlines

• Event complained of → 12 months (extended at the Ombudsman's discretion)

Process

1. Step 1: Give the organisation a chance to put things right

   The first step is to complain directly to the organisation you're unhappy with. This gives them the opportunity to resolve the problem first.

2. Step 2: Check what we can and cannot look at

   There are some things we're allowed to investigate and some things we're not. This is because the law sets clear limits on our role.

3. Step 3: Submit your complaint

   When you go to submit your complaint, our online form will ask you some short questions before getting you to create an account and give us more detail.

4. Step 4: What happens next

   After you submit your complaint, we'll start by taking a first look to check we have all the information we need.

Official sources