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View online News from the Ombudsman - Spring 2021 Welcome Welcome to the latest edition of News from the Ombudsman. You haven't heard from us through this newsletter for a while but we intend to send these out more regularly going forward. In this edition you'll hear about how we're helping local authorities navigate the three-stage children's statutory complaints procedure, a potentially ground-breaking investigation which should be of interest to parents of nursery-aged children, how we are using our casework to inform national debates around supporting our armed forces families and a recent investigation into an unusual area of our work. We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter. If you'd like to hear more about the work we do, why not follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn? New guide launched We've recently launched a new guide to help local authorities handle complaints under the children's services statutory complaints process. Free to download, the short guide shares the lessons from previous investigations about how councils should apply the regulations and statutory guidance. Being the area in which we receive the most queries from local authorities, it addresses the common questions received. For complaints about many areas of children's services, there is a statutory, three-stage complaints procedure local authorities must follow. Common questions answered in the guide include basic issues around what areas come under the statutory process along with more detailed questions about young people's consent, court action, delays and deadlines, and statements of complaint. Read more Key nursery places decision We're urging councils to ensure they have proper oversight of nurseries offering free early years places, after a national nursery chain was found to be charging Leicestershire parents a 'top-up fee'. Government guidance states that the free places must be free, but the chain's Market Harborough site was charging parents the difference between the amount Leicestershire County Council paid it for the places, and the amount they charged private customers. Our investigation found the council did not have sufficient oversight of the way the nursery charged parents when administering the free early years places. Read more Ombudsman appears before armed forces committee Our Ombudsman, Michael King, gave evidence to an online meeting of the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee on 10 March. He spoke about the potential impact to the LGSCO of the proposals to enshrine the Armed Forces Covenant in law. The small number of investigations we carry out in this area make a big difference to armed forces families – but we think people are not very aware of their rights under the covenant, as well as their right to come to us if they feel unhappy with how they've been treated. In November 2019 we published guidance to local authorities on their responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant. Watch the session Investigation highlights uncommon area of our work A recent investigation has highlighted a little-known area of our work in investigating complaints about public health.  In this case, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham received reports from a resident about a possible cancer cluster. This wasn't picked up by the council and so wasn't investigated, and the resident's complaints were not responded to properly either. We're pleased to say the council has accepted our recommendations and is improving the way it deals with reports of non-infectious disease clusters in future.  Read more Covid-19: calls update During the latest lockdown, we have been operating our telephone helpline on reduced hours. From this week, we are able to extend our helpline opening hours partially towards pre-Covid levels: 10am to 12 noon Monday and Tuesday 10am to 4pm Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays These times only refer to the opening of our helpline. Our staff continue to work mostly from home and people can still contact their named investigator where they have one. If you want to raise a new complaint with us, the easiest way is still for you to complete our online complaint form on our website.   Purdah postponement Next week we will stop publishing public interest reports for those local authorities that have local elections in May. There are a lot of elections this year because those postponed last May will also take place. In some areas this includes Mayoral elections. In the run-up to elections, local authorities and public bodies must not compete for media space with campaigners and must not publish anything that could be seen to influence the outcome of an election. We'll still be publishing public interest reports about those areas where there are no elections. Our regular investigation decisions also continue to be published for all areas as normal, and our weekly bulletins issued to those who have signed up.   News you may have missed Council agrees to refund care costs for some people in short-term residential care Council fails to investigate children's services complaints properly Boy with Special Educational Needs missed out on education and support because of council errors Man denied Human Rights because of council delay Cornwall care cost calculations criticised Council to apologise to Year 10 pupil left without a school for more than a year Not enough local scrutiny of Cornwall's outsourced education services to out-of-school children, Ombudsman says Councils must give parents clear information during safeguarding investigations Cornwall Council stopped payments for disabled woman's care without organising alternative Councils urged to learn from Ombudsman investigation into child abuse complaint Mother left with no respite or protection from disabled son by Somerset County Council Domestic abuse victim not supported properly by Wandsworth council when she became homeless Redbridge council left homeless family for too long in B&B We look at individual complaints about local public services and all registerable social care providers in England. We remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to improve services. When we find a council or care provider has done something wrong, we recommend how it should put it right. We are free to use and make our decisions independently. Find out more about us at www.lgo.org.uk Manage preferences or unsubscribe Contact us

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