What we can and cannot look at
What we can investigate
We can investigate complaints about most council services, even if the council pays another organisation (like a private company) to provide them. We can also investigate adult care services that people pay for themselves, like living in a care home or having care provided in their own home. We also deal with complaints about some other organisations.
What we cannot investigate
The law does not allow us to investigate some issues. We cannot usually look at a complaint when:
| It is out of time | You have left it more than 12 months to complain to us after you knew, or should have known, about the problem. |
| There is not enough personal injustice or fault |
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We are not the right organisation to look at it |
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| We do not have the power to investigate |
By law, we cannot investigate complaints about some issues involving councils or care providers. The common examples are:
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We are not an appeals body or regulator for councils and care providers. We cannot "review" their decisions and decide whether they made the right choice. Instead we decide whether organisations have followed the right steps to make decisions or take action. This means we cannot criticise decisions or actions if they were taken correctly.
How we decide what to investigate
We decide whether we can and should investigate your complaint. For more information visit How we deal with your complaint
The common things that go wrong
This doesn't include everything, but some common examples of fault are:
- Delay
- Poor record keeping
- Failure to take action
- Failure to follow procedures or the law
- Poor communication
- Giving out misleading information
- Failure to investigate
- The organisation not doing what it said it would
Common types of complaint - what we can and cannot investigate
Click the links below to find more detailed information on what we can and cannot investigate in the subject areas people often want to complain about.
We look at all adult social care complaints, including care arranged and paid for privately without the council being involved.
See our general information about complaining about adult social care:
How to complain about adult social care and support
We also have more detailed information on what we can and cannot investigate about the following services:
- Adult social care arranged by councils
- Adult social care arranged privately (independent care providers)
- Councils that arrange and fund residential care placements
- Councils that conduct care needs assessments
- Single investigation for complaints about joint health and social care services
- Resources for people receiving care in prison
We also have information and resources for organisations we investigate, including template complaint procedures and FAQs:
Fact sheet for NHS organisations about the Joint Working Team
We deal with complaints about most children’s social care services, except matters which have been decided in court. See what we can and cannot investigate about the following services:
- Councils' care of 'looked after' children
- Children's care services
- Child protection issues
- The Children Act 1989 Complaints Procedure
We also have general information about children's services complaints depending on who you are:
Extra help for children or young people making a complaint
Information for professionals working with children and young adults
- Special educational needs
- School transport
- Delayed entry for summer-born children
- Education other than at school
We are able to investigate some school related issues in which the local council is usually the responsible body:
Academies operate independently of local authorities, and we cannot currently look at complaints about them. You should speak to the academy initially about how to complain. They will provide you with a copy of their complaints procedure. If you have a complaint about an academy that you have been unable to resolve, you can write to the Secretary of State for Education. There are some exclusion and admission complaints we can look at if a school has recently converted to an academy - see the relevant information above for more details.
We deal with complaints about most council housing services other than social housing. The Housing Ombudsman deals with complaints about social housing, including councils' role as social landlords.
Which ombudsman for social housing complaints?
See what we can and cannot investigate about the following services:
- Homelessness applications
- Harassment or illegal eviction by your private landlord
- Possessions in council storage
- Housing transfers
- Housing applications
- Housing adaptations for people with disabilities
- Housing complaints by private landlords
- Neighbour nuisance and anti-social behaviour
- Private housing disrepair
- Right to buy applications
- Your neighbour's planning application
- How your planning application is dealt with
- Publicising planning applications
- Advice to planning applicants (complaints about)
- General planning advice (complaints about)
- Section 106 agreements (planning obligations)
- Planning enforcement
- Building control
- Community Infrastructure Levy
- Conservation areas
- Derelict properties
- High hedges
- Listed buildings
- Trees
- Damage to property or personal injury due to poorly maintained highways (including potholes)
- Parking enforcement (including Penalty Charge Notices)
- Moving traffic offences
- Transport for London and London TravelWatch
- Enforcement of road charging schemes (including London's congestion charge and Low Emmission Zones)
- Footpaths and rights of way
- Bus stops and shelters
- Standards and member conduct
- Town and parish councils
- Personnel and employment problems
- Land sales and disposals
- Elections and electoral registration
- Compacts between councils and civil society organisations
- Libraries
- Parks, gardens, playing fields and sports grounds
- Police and Crime Commissioners
- Fire and rescue authorities
- Coroners
- Industrial action