Council complaints body the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) could be given a clean bill of health after significant signs of organisational improvement, an influential MP has claimed.

Chair of the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts, said the LGO had ‘responded positively' to the panel's criticisms by acting on its recommendations to drive significant improvement.

This turnaround, detailed in a Committee report, follows the admission in May 2012 that the ombudsman was taking so long to respond to cases that it amounted to virtual maladministration.

Mr Betts said the LGO, which turns 40 this year, should be completely open in publishing its staff survey, subject its case-handling to outside scrutiny and appoint an independent member to its oversight board.

‘It's a case of taking things further than they have already done rather than being critical for them not having done them in the first place,' Mr Betts told The MJ.

He said he hoped they would have a clean bill of health in future.  He added: ‘The committee is saying "You have responded positively to those criticisms, there are one or two more things that need to be done, and we get the message that you are intending to do them".'

Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, said the committee recognised the steps taken by the body to become more accountable, efficient and transparent.

‘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,' she
added.

Last year, the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) think-tank surveyed 232 councils to assess outside perceptions of the LGO.  The results indicated strong support for the ombudsman's work – with 91% agreeing the sector benefited from having its own ombudsman and 92% stating the public benefited from its activities.

‘Having a strong ombudsman in this overwhelmingly important area of public service delivery is more important than ever,' said LGiU chief executive Dr Jonathan Carr-West.

Two independent reviews, one on the future landscape of ombudsmen services and another on how public complaints could be harnessed to improve public services, will report to ministers later this year.