The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has published guidance aimed at assisting councils in supporting children who are unable to attend school. This guidance comes in response to a tenfold increase in complaints related to alternative education provision over three years, rising from 38 cases investigated in 2021–22 to 400 in 2024–25. Many of these cases involve children facing school attendance challenges due to anxiety, with a significant number concerning those with special educational needs.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has published guidance which is aimed at bringing awareness to councils about the amended definition of priority need for homelessness. The guidance is aimed at making councils aware that the amended definition of priority for homelessness includes people homeless because of domestic abuse. The Ombudsman reports that victims of domestic abuse have been let down by the council due to an outdated and very narrow definition of what abuse is, as a result council has failed to acknowledge the abuse that the people have suffered because the abuse was not physical. The amended definition has created new duties and has given new powers to councils that will enable them to assist victims

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has published a report examining the barriers Disabled people face when accessing council housing and homelessness services. The report identifies systemic issues across homelessness support, housing allocations and Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs), and calls for improvements in administrative practice, inter-agency coordination and strategic planning to ensure fairer access to housing.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has published a report on Coulson and Collins Care Home, following an investigation into a complaint about the care provider. LGSCO found that the care provider did not correctly record and refund an overpayment for the complainant’s late father’s care.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has published a report titled 'Children need Families', highlighting deficiencies in adoption support services provided by English councils. The report, based on investigated complaints, reveals issues such as delays in implementing support, failure to disclose children's health conditions, and unexplained caps on financial assistance. While adoption-related complaints are relatively few, each upheld case represents a vulnerable child's fresh start being compromised by poor council service. The Ombudsman urges local authorities to enhance their processes and support mechanisms for adoptive families, providing scrutiny questions for councillors and adoption service heads to evaluate and improve their offerings.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reiterated its call for care providers to be required to tell people about its service in its Annual Review of Adult Social Care Complaints 2023–24. In the review, it was found that the number of complaints about privately funded and arranged care has dropped by 15% and is far lower than expected given the private sector’s proportion of the care market. The LGSCO has called for mandatory signposting to its services at the end of every provider’s complaint process to bridge this gap. The LGSCO has also identified delays in the assessment of people’s needs and poor communication with clients and their families as key areas of concern. The LGSCO has released data for all the organisations about whom it has received complaints in the past year alongside the annual review.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported that a man with care needs has been left homeless by Tower Hamlets Council. An investigation by the LGSCO revealed that the Council's housing and adult care services failed to provide support to the man over an extended period of time. Despite receiving a care package, the Council's adult social care team failed to liaise with the housing team, leaving significant gaps in his care packing and unsuitable temporary accommodation. Consequently, he was forced to sleep in his car for several weeks due to inadequate interim accommodations, eventually ending up in hospital. The Council has apologised to the man and has agreed to pay him £11,728 in total for the failures identified in the LGSCO's report. Tower Hamlets Council has also agreed to liaise with the man to decide on action concerning other costs accrued when he was homeless.

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported that Waltham Forest Council did not take sufficient steps to help a family find interim and temporary accommodation. Waltham Forest Council missed telephone appointments and 'forgot' about the family resulting in the family being forced to sofa surf for 12 months. The Council has agreed to apologise to the family and pay a total of £6,000 for the time the family spent without interim accommodation.

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported that councils and the NHS need to work closer together to improve local care. A recent report, titled 'People not structures: putting people at the heart of integrated care' has shown that integrated care systems made up of local authority social services and NHS partnerships have failed to communicate effectively, resulting in vulnerable patients not being provided necessary support. The report has made various recommendations for improvement, including taking a ‘person first approach’ and the implementation of a standard framework for effective communication focused on the professionals on the frontline.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported, from its annual review of local government complaints, that councils are failing to remedy more that one in five complaints on time. LGSCO has noted that the highest area of complaint concerns complaints on poor services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). LGSCO has reported that the adult social care sector also makes up 14% of its casework and that complaints on housing and homelessness make up 16% of the LGSCO’s casework.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported that Farrington Care Limited has refused to refund the cost of care a family paid for the seven weeks their relative was a client despite findings of significant failings in the relative’s care. The LGSCO investigated into a family’s complaint after the council’s safeguarding investigation found evidence of neglect and omissions in the care provided. The LGSCO recommended the home reimburse for all fees paid for the seven weeks, the fees deducted for a notice period and a further £350 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty caused. The home has refused to pay the remedy and the LGSCO has issued an Adverse Findings Notice against the nursing home.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has reported on Suffolk County Council's failure to provide education services to a child with special educational needs. LGSCO investigated the complaint and found that Suffolk County Council had not provided alternative education to the child from March 2022 until September 2023. LGSCO noted that the child's mother had made numerous requests to Suffolk County Council requesting an education package that would allow the child to continue studying away from school but that adequate provision was not made. Suffolk County Council took 18 months to deliver an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan instead of the legislated 20 weeks. LGSCO confirmed that Suffolk County Council has agreed to apologise and pay £8,000 to the child's family for the delay in providing the EHC Plan process and for failing to provide alternative education. Additionally, Suffolk County Council will pay £300 to the mother to acknowledge the distress and anxiety caused.