Complaints data for London councils for 2023-24 have been released by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

It forms part of the Ombudsman’s annual release of statistics on the complaints it receives and investigates about all local authorities in England for the previous 12 months.

In London:

24% of complaints and enquiries the Ombudsman received were from this region. The complaints profile for London was significantly different to that of other regions.
the 4,187 complaints and enquiries received equated to 47.2 complaints received per 100,000 residents, significantly above the average across all regions of 30.6 and a long way ahead of the region with the next highest number, the South West at 31.1 cases received per 100,000 residents.
just 14% of complaints and enquiries received were about Children and Education, well below the average for all regions (27%). At 6.6 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category, this was the second lowest of all the regions (behind the North East at 5.8) and well below the average of 8.2.
Housing was the largest category for complaints and enquiries received in London, accounting for 34%, twice the country average of 14%.
the 16.1 complaints and enquiries received per 100,000 residents in this category was the highest by far, way ahead of second placed West Midlands at 4.5. Overall, London accounted for almost half (48%) of all Housing complaints and enquiries the Ombudsman received in 2023-24.
12% of complaints and enquiries received were about Adult Care Services, just below the average for all regions of 14%. At 5.5 complaints received per 100,000 residents this was the second highest of all the regions, behind the North East at 5.7 and well above the average of 4.4.
London also had the highest number of complaints received per 100,000 residents in the following categories:
Benefits & Tax (4.2 compared with the average of 2.1)
Environmental Services, Public Protection & Regulation (4.4 compared with the average of 3.1)
Highways & Transport (5.4 compared with the average of 3.0)
the overall uphold rate for the region stood at 78%, below the average of 80% for all regions.
a total of 724 upheld decisions equated to 8.2 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents, the highest of all the regions and well above the average of 5.6.
For the first time nationally, the Ombudsman is having to report its concerns about the way councils are failing to comply with the recommendations it makes in good time, with more than one in five complaints being remedied late.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“On a national level, what we’re seeing in the majority of cases isn’t a lack of care or an inability to take responsibility for what has gone wrong, but a sector struggling to cope.

“Almost all councils want to comply with our recommendations, accept responsibility when things go wrong, and provide good services to residents, and our 99.5% compliance rate indicates this is the case. But all too often resources and finances prevent them from doing so as swiftly as they should.

“However, there are a small number of councils that seem unwilling to respond to our investigations as we expect them to, and we have had to tell those councils that we will issue a witness summons for them to provide information that should otherwise be forthcoming.

“Regardless of the reason for the delays in responding, the impact is the same on the people at the centre of the complaints and councils risk losing the opportunity to restore faith when things have gone wrong.

“I urge those few councils that do not engage fully in the process to get on board to benefit their local residents. The service improvement recommendations we make are practical steps that should be in the gift of local authorities to put in place. If councils are unable to implement them in the timescales we require, they should let us know before they agree to them.”

The Ombudsman’s annual report on local government complaints gives a picture of the health of the sector across England. This year across the country the Ombudsman has upheld 80 per cent of all complaints it has investigated – rising from 74 per cent the previous year.

The highest area of complaint across the Ombudsman’s casework remains complaints about poor services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This area now dominates its casework, making up 26% of all complaints the service received in the period and 42% of all upheld complaints. The Ombudsman found fault in 92% of the education cases it investigated and the numbers are increasing rapidly.

Another key area was Adult Social Care Services, which made up 14% of the Ombudsman’s casework; 80% of investigated complaints were upheld.

Complaints about housing and homelessness made up a further 16% of casework, with 84% of investigations upheld – a situation particularly acute in London.

Statistics for each council have been uploaded to the Ombudsman’s Your Council’s Performance interactive map, which allows people to compare their council’s statistics against the averages for various types of council as well as read the Ombudsman’s letter accompanying the data.