LG & SC Ombudsman Avis 

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is an absolute disgrace—a pathetic, useless organization that exists only to protect councils and screw over the public.

They don’t investigate properly, ignore evidence, twist facts, and make excuses for corrupt councils. I sent them clear proof of wrongdoing, and they couldn’t be bothered to look at it. Instead, they dismissed my complaint without any real effort, and when I challenged their pathetic decision, they shut down communication entirely—because they can’t handle being called out on their incompetence.

This is not an ombudsman. It’s a spineless, biased, back-covering operation designed to rubber-stamp council lies. The whole system is rigged against complainants, and these cowards know it. They hide behind bureaucracy, waffle on about “fairness,” but in reality, they are just puppets for the councils they’re meant to regulate.

If you’re thinking of complaining to the LGSCO, save yourself the stress. They are a complete waste of time, and the only thing they’ll do is gaslight you into thinking your complaint was never valid in the first place.

The LGSCO is a disgraceful, corrupt, and utterly incompetent bunch of bureaucratic clowns. They do not care, they will not help you, and they are not fit for purpose.

The LGO, HSE and the Charity Commission are all unfit fit for purpose.
UK Parliament and the PHSO know this.
My advice is take the time and effort to draw up your own detailed plan of action. Include factual evidence of misconduct by the concerned parties. Images where necessary. Inform those you have tried dealing with that you will make it public knowledge.
Don’t be afraid of contacting the hierarchy.
Beware of MP’s though.
Good luck and keep fighting.
Yes, the country has gone to the dogs. These regulatory bodies are a major cause.

Absolutely appalling and useless case workers. Close the case without proper investigation. Bribed by the Council surely.

Allowing useless people to be in position of power instead of the unemployment office were they belong.

I’m sickened to know these people are using PUBLIC money for doing nothing. My complaint was valid, even the Council upheld parts of it but the Ombudsman declined to investigate. When I spoke to the assessor she spoke to me like a child, was rude and had the audacity to say ‘so you want compensation?!’. She was horrid and condescending. Reading these reviews, why is something not being done with this corrupt set-up I’m shocked! Local authorities are getting away with so much due to the Ombudsman. Shame
on you and your incompetent and unprofessional staff.

Appalling cover up. The problem is that if one uses the Council's complaints procedure then you end up having to deal with this Ombudsman. However it consistently covers up what has gone on. In the latest example we have had flooding and even sewage on our road arising from the failure to deal with breaches of conditions yet the incompetent investigator found no fault. There are numerous outstanding breaches of planning control, some of which the Council has yet to even respond to me on yet in the parallel universe of this Ombudsman it is claimed that everything is resolved. Hopeless.

Totally corrupt and Patronising, treat you like you was born yesterday, Totally biased towards the Council's Libraries where are picking on and discrimination with disabled, treated able body people with no learning with a VIP, exemption from house rules, free to take liberty and abuse the system. Rude staff bias staff towards the public sector.

Complete waste of time and emotional stress on behalf of my late mother in law. I spent hours and hours putting together evidence of the failings of our Councils Adult Social Care Services and although the ombudsman did investigate and found fault in the council processes they said there had not been any injustices! They even said that the council had changed 3 of their processes and procedures because of the way we had been treated and employed more resources, which surely shows that their administration is not fit for purpose as to get extra funding in these tight times for councils is near on impossible. Incorrect information was given to us both face to face and on the phone by the council. Letters and communications were not sent to us by the council. If these had been sent to us it would have provided us with the information we needed to make informed decisions on our late mother in law care. We are now faced with a care bill of over £7500 that originally we were told by the council would be funded. I wish I had read the reviews before going to the ombudsman.
It is a waste of tax payers money and not worth wasting your time as it will not be pursued with any effect if at all and biased towards the councils.

I should have checked their rating before seeking their help—what a waste of time and money. I find that the U.K. is in decline, with public services being incredibly ineffective. The LGO and other standards bodies are no better. What a shame.

This is the body that's supposed to hold Local Authorities to account and ensure standards are kept, they are an absolute Joke ! Reported the poor delivery of a frontline service by Calderdale Council after I received excuses and unaccountable responses to my complaints. The LGO decided it wasn't worth investigating even though on one occasion the recycling team where caught on CCTV throwing recycling/ rubbish in my garden. Clear corruption and further two tiered govt body. This body is funded by Local Authorities through our taxation and Council Tax, therefore i wonder why they are clearly not investigating issues from my experience and other reviews. The LGO is not fit for purpose and the sooner these useless and ineffective quangos costing tax payers alot of money get closed down. Let's hope Reform Party get elected in 4 years because such bodies / quangos are already on their radar and stated they will be closing down and or totally reforming these ineffectual costly govt bodies funded by us the tax payer !!!

Dont know how these people exist! Totally incompetent and useless.

Is it not possible to give a minus rating?

Shocking and disgraceful service, I went to them for help over my mums nursing home who had mistreated my mum. The home admitted fault and think a simple sorry is adequate.
There answer? They can't help! Pointless and complete waste of time and space.

They simply never listen. Not every one star is wrong. Maybe they need investgating. Something really is not right with this company.

I had a situation where a Local Authority was denying that a local dog boarding kennels never called in vets. They took money from a so called Rescue who imported dogs from Romania and stored them there The Rescue owner paid no one to take care of the animals , or to prep them for adoption , and the kennels took no care of them either, to the extent of dogs dying on site, or becoming feral as became unadoptable.,A dog I adopted was sent out ill , not rehabilitated at all and had to be returned.it had not seen a vet since arriving from Romania and died August 2023 in suspicious circumstances at the kennels. Vets were not called.
The LA dismissed my FOI request re if they had had sight of vet records at the kennels. it's obligatory that records are kept . They responded with misleading data , with a lie in fact. So LGO was the last resort at this stage .
I approached the LGO despite reading the dire reviews as had no place else to go as the RSPCA just rubber stamped the LA response and dogs were suffering. DEFRA referred me to the LA!

LGO read my case notes but decided not to progress my very strong case, supported as it was by 3 reports of neglect from ex volunteers. Even worse, they then told the LA all was well!
NOT to call in vets is entirely against the regs for boarding kennels.
The dogs continue to suffer as there is no regulation of the Rescue owner in England so it is vital to have LA'S who truly scrutinise kennels. and if they do not . then the LGO should be investigating . The LGO needs scrutiny.

I first of all complained to Transport for London regarding the prolific amount of graffiti plastered over public walls, and public road signs in my local area, via Resolver. It is their legal responsibility to remove the Graffiti. Transport for London had very little interest in removing the Graffiti. I then sent a few reports on to London Travel Watch. I spoke to London Travel Watch about the Graffiti problem; they stated it is not their responsibility to remove the Graffiti. I then sent 3 Complaints to the LGSCO; I had one complaint rejected today. LGSCO stated that my complaint is not very important compared to other complaints. I tried phoning the person who had sent me the rejection letter; her phone was constantly on Voicemail and in her message it was up to her if she would respond to any phone messages. I checked online, there is no way I can challenge the LGSCO's decision. I think the LGSCO are absolutely useless. Had my Graffiti reports fallen under the responsibility of my local Council, they would have removed some or all the Graffiti I had reported by now. So I now have to live with seeing huge amounts of Graffiti plastered over a public wall, located outside my kitchen window. The unsightly Graffiti in my local area is going to remain as it is. The LGSCO are a complete disgrace.

My local council screwed up a procedure, so I complained, expecting an apology and nominal compensation. My complaint wasn't resolved so I appealed. The council's final adjudication rejected my submission by conjuring up evidence that had not been mentioned before - ever.
So I went to the Local Government Ombudsman. Its response was: "I see no good reasons why he should not have used the court remedy to resolve the dispute with the Council".
If I am expected to take the Council to court, what is the point of the Ombudsman?
This is just another ombudsman disservice that has been carefully designed to deflect criticism of the useless organisations they are paid to shield.

One look at LGSCO’s abysmal Trustpilot score says it all. The reviews speak of an organization that systematically sides with councils, shielding them from accountability. They’re not here to help; they’re here to make sure councils face no consequences.
Don't even waste one minute of your time for these grifters! LGSCO functions more as a biased bureaucratic shield for councils than as a true advocate for residents. My experience, along with the hundreds of similar one-star reviews here, exposes LGSCO as a rubber stamp for council neglect. They’re biased and dismissive, and operate to defend councils, not hold them accountable.
Despite providing extensive evidence of severe disturbances affecting my daily life, LGSCO brushed aside legal responsibilities and absurdly defended my council’s inaction, claiming a “lack of resources” and "following the policy" without any evidence—effectively excusing the council from doing its job and absolving the council of any responsibility. The result? They’ve blatantly ignored both the facts and the harm to residents, like me, whose rights and well-being are dismissed as irrelevant.
The bias is overwhelming here; this organization has consistently ruled in councils’ favour, with very little regard for the actual experiences of those they’re supposed to protect.
If you’re considering a complaint, save your time and energy. The LGSCO’s approach is a cruel charade, failing the public at every turn and working in favour of council interests. This organization is not a watchdog—it’s a gatekeeper ensuring councils escape their obligations to the people.
Disgusting.

This organisation seems to have no interest in holding local council's to account for poor service and leaving their residents out of pocket. Sadly, this is why we now see such a vast ammount of unaccountability in this sector. My complaint was not pursued because it was deemed not financially damaging enough to me. This is true, but the time, effort and stress of trying to get Lambeth Council to deal with what should have been a very, very straight forward transaction (green waste subscription) was not insignificant. Sadly, I think that the LGSCO is another organisation that is not fit for purpose

Very disappointed with the service provided. Process seemed unfair/ biased and I felt like they were more interested in closing cases as they are 'exceptionally busy' than fairly investigating. If you cant have confidence that an ombudsman will look in to matters correctly then the councils are free to break processes as they wish without consequence. My issue (Planning permission) was a mirror image of one of their case studies but was dismissed at a very early stage, and the final letter sent to me ended- "If you choose to bring a claim for Judicial Review which we successfully defend, we will
look to recover our reasonable costs to protect public funds. Typically, this could mean you
paying £2,000 to £3,000 or more depending on the complexity of the claim."- which comes across as just threatening to me. After a 12 month stressful process with the council- it ends with this- poor show!

A hideous organisation that backs "social services" every time. In my case, they did not even investigate and essentially concluded that sadistic services could do whatever they wanted.

Do us all a favour and do one. There's no space for corrupt taxpayer organisations.

What an absolutely ridiculous waste of time. I wish I’d read these reviews before going to the ombudsman. It’s clear that there’s a closed-ranks mentality at play here with zero accountability. I provided detailed evidence of a planning process failure, I mean, quite literally a failure of process as per the guidelines. But the ombudsman response was that they won’t even investigate because the council claims there was no failure. What the LGO are really saying is that they have no money or resource to investigate, so they will take the council at their word. Well that's ok then isn't it, if the council say they are not at fault - what nonesense. Trebles all around at the council. Yet more obfuscation. It’s frustrating to see how this system is set up to pay lip service to accountability but is actually designed to work against the public interest. It just lets them act with impunity, all at our expense.