By Richard Johnstone | 17 July 2012
The Local Government Ombudsman must ‘raise its game’ to ensure it retains ‘authority and credibility’ as the independent arbitrator of disputes over council services, MPs have said.
In a report examining the work of the ombudsman, the Commons communities and local government committee concluded that it must tackle operational inefficiencies if it is to conduct its activities with ‘credible effectiveness’.
The LGO dealt with 21,840 complaints and enquiries in 2010/11 and its investigative teams pursued 11,249 complaints, but committee chair Clive Betts said the LGO ‘has been taking far too long to determine some cases’.
He added: ‘One of the ombudsmen conceded that the delay in determining some cases was itself likely to amount to maladministration. This must raise questions about the LGO's authority and credibility. The organisation needs to apply strict deadlines to all the cases that it handles.’
The committee also called for the LGO to be more transparent with all parties about the procedure that applies to complaints. Currently, cases can either be resolved through a mediated process, or allocated for full investigation and formal determination, but MPs say it is not always clear which process is being followed. Likewise, the ombudsman must be transparent about the procedures that apply when a case is moved from one process to another, such as when mediation fails.
The ombudsman was also urged to develop a methodology to measure levels of customer satisfaction, and publish the results every year. It must also put in place arrangements to have its own activities examined by an independent external reviewer, who should be in place by the end of this year. Government should also increase its monitoring of the organisation.
Betts said: ‘Ministers must take steps urgently to update the governance agreement – the so called Grant Memorandum – that it has with the LGO so that the organisation can have a clear and comprehensive understanding of its relationship with, and responsibilities to, the Department for Communities and Local Government.’
The LGO said it welcomed the report, agreeing that ‘some changes need to be made to the organisation’ to modernise the service, which is also having its budget reduced by a third.
Ombudsman Jane Martin said: ‘Our annual report published last week shows that LGO made 11,229 complaint decisions in 2011/12, an increase on previous years and a trend that we expect to continue.
‘In more than a quarter of these cases, we identified significant injustice and obtained redress for the complainants concerned, many of whom were vulnerable individuals whose voices would have otherwise gone unheard. We are acutely aware that this is an essential frontline service and welcome the scrutiny of the committee to make sure that we are delivering it as efficiently as possible without compromising on quality.’
