Council performance map updated  We have updated and improved the Your Councils' Performance map – the go-to place for complaint statistics about your local council. We have added last year's (2024-25) data for all councils early, to help councils make better use of the information. Councils have told us that getting their data earlier, will help them to incorporate Ombudsman investigation statistics into their own schedules on reporting all the complaints they receive from people in their area. We have also changed how the data is presented this year by emphasising the absolute numbers of complaints, where previous years concentrated on percentage rates. This helps to give more context when looking into the picture of complaint handling in your area. We will still be reporting on the major themes from last year's casework in the usual July slot, through our Annual Review of Local Government complaints and releasing spreadsheets containing all the data. | Councils should have better oversight of fees for free nursery places  We're encouraging councils to maintain better oversight of how nurseries in their areas provide free places under the Government's Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) scheme. We're doing this after we found fault with the way a council responded to a parent's complaint that the nursery their child was attending had been requiring him to pay a 'top-up' fee for what it called 'general extras' during those free hours. We found in this case, along with several other complaints across the country, a nursery was charging the top up fee, to bridge the gap between what a private client would pay for the care hours, and what the council pays on behalf of the Government scheme. This is against national guidance published by the Department for Education, which explains that parents should not face mandatory charges for accessing free hours. Nurseries can charge for extras such as meals, snacks or for consumables such as nappies or sun cream, but that this should be voluntary, and any charges should be itemised. | Memorandum signed We've recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) to help us better investigate complaints and concerns about enforcement agents. We investigate complaints about enforcement agents – more commonly known as bailiffs – when acting on behalf of local authorities in England, for example when recovering council tax or parking debts. We make any finding of fault against the local authority that instructed the agents. The ECB oversees the enforcement industry to ensure people who are subject to enforcement action are treated fairly. The ECB resolves complaints about poor enforcement practices in England and Wales and shares the learning from complaints to drive improvements across the enforcement sector. The new Memorandum sets out how we will work together to ensure people's complaints and concerns are heard properly. Crucially, both organisations commit to putting complainants' best interests at the heart of the process. Using evidence to inform national debates  This month our Assistant Ombudsman, Sharon Chappell gave evidence at an Education Committee inquiry into Solving the SEND crisis. The Committee is seeking evidence on short term actions to stabilise the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system which is currently experiencing increased demand, protracted waiting times and increased pressure on schools and local authorities. The Committee is also looking at how, beyond stability, long term sustainability of the SEND system can be achieved to support and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. During the session Sharon highlighted our Triennial Review which recommends we are given powers to investigate SEND provision in schools. Currently, we are only able to look at the actions of local authorities. We believe this would improve accountability for providing provision set out in Education, Health and Care Plans. Her appearance followed on from written evidence we had submitted to the committee earlier this year. We also draw on the evidence and expertise gained from our casework to submit evidence to government consultations. We have responded to the following consultation recently: | Four new local authorities formed  Four new Combined Authorities have recently been created in England. The new authorities in Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Devon and East Yorkshire fall under our remit. The government has set a goal of universal coverage of strategic authorities in England in its White Paper on local government devolution, which will see more of these authorities created. You can find all our published decisions about Combined Authorities on our website. | News you may have missed | 
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