Despite improvements at the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), further work must be done to restore public confidence, MPs have said.
Over the past year the LGO has made a concerted effort to become more accountable, efficient and transparent, yet improvement must continue with the use of a greater number of independent members and evaluators, the Communities and Local Government Committee has found.
While a report in 2012 raised serious concerns about the performance of the LGO, MPs today acknowledged the work done by the organisation to improve.
‘But the LGO cannot afford to rest on its laurels,’ chair of the communities and local government committee, Clive Betts MP, said. ‘Further work remains to be done if it is to totally quell the committee’s concerns and fully restore public confidence in its work.’
Among a range of recommendations made by the committee, the LGO was told to ensure the timeliness of its decisions and case-handling quality control system was externally reviewed and appoint an independent evaluator of complaints within three months.
Welcoming the report’s recognition of improvement at the LGO, local government ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, said: ‘The public can be confident that they will continue to receive a fair and effective consideration of their complaints about local public services and social care. ‘The changes we have made place us in a strong position to work with others to deliver a more joined up and accessible public services complaints system.’
