What happens if I am not happy with the response to my complaint at stage …

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Coronavirus Update

Ombudsman to resume taking new complaints online

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will be resuming all existing casework and taking on new complaints through its website from the end of June (29th).

Ombudsman to resume taking new complaints online - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The Ombudsman paused all casework which needed input from councils and care providers at the end of March, to protect their capacity to provide frontline services during the Covid-19 crisis.

Since then, the Ombudsman has been monitoring the situation and keeping in touch with stakeholders to identify the best time to restart its work.

In early May it re-opened its helpline, on reduced hours, to give general advice to the public, and more recently restarted existing investigations with those councils that indicated to the Ombudsman they had capacity to deal with complaints.

We will arrange for the matter to be reviewed under the next stage, (stage two) of the complaints procedure by the Chief Executive of the Council.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

If you have been through all stages of our complaints procedure and are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review your complaint.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

The Ombudsman expects you to have given us chance to deal with your complaint, before you contact them. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable time, it may decide to look into your complaint anyway. This is usually up to 12 weeks but can be longer for social care complaints that follow a statutory process.

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About the Ombudsman

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the final stage for complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. It also investigates complaints about all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) for people who self-fund their care.

Contact

Website: Local Government Ombudsman
Telephone: 0300 061 0614

Opening hours

Monday to Friday: 10am to 4pm (except public holidays)

Last Updated on Friday, July 7, 2023