Public reports issued by the Ombudsman

All our investigation decisions are published on our website, except where we decide publishing is not in the interests of the people involved in the complaint. In a small number of investigations we will publish a detailed report of the investigation. These require the organisation involved to make a public announcement and we will promote the report in the media. Reports and decisions do not name the people involved but do name the organisation(s) investigated.

Our findings are binding. If an authority wishes to challenge our findings on whether there has been fault and the injustice or loss suffered, it must do so through judicial review. There is no other way of challenging our findings.

The authority has three months from the date of the report to formally consider the report and any recommendations we have made. This means the report should be considered at a high decision-making level such as a Full Council meeting, Cabinet or another Committee with delegated authority. The Member responsible for complaints should be involved in this process. The authority should send a formal written response to us explaining what steps it has taken or will take to comply with the recommendations in the report within the three months.

When we are satisfied with the action(s) an authority has taken following a report, we will send a letter of satisfaction to the authority and write to the complainant explaining this. We then update the entry on our website to show we are satisfied with the outcome of the report.

Here are some possible questions for scrutiny when considering a public report:

• Did the organisation miss opportunities to resolve this complaint locally and if so how did this happen?
• What is the reason the Ombudsman gave for issuing the report? Were there opportunities for the organisation to avoid a public report being issued and why were these not taken?
• Is there wider learning for the organisation about how complaints are handled and how will this be shared with staff?
• What improvements will the organisation make as a result of the Ombudsman’s report and how will these be tracked and measured?
• Has the person who raised the complaint received the remedy the Ombudsman recommended? Have we invited them to discuss their experience with a sufficiently senior member of staff?

You can find more details about our public reports in our Manual for Councils.