The complaints body for local government has broad support across the sector but must develop a distinct offer for councillors, the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) think-tank has reported today.

Findings from a survey of more than 400 senior local government officers and elected members reveal the overwhelming majority, 91%, believed the sector benefits from the work of the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) and a further 92% said the public benefits from the watchdog.. 

Entitled ‘The LGO and the future of Local Accountability', the paper showed, however, that elected members want more direct help from the Ombudsman.  Nearly three quarters (73%) said they would like more support and 64% of councillors felt the LGO could assist with the work of overview and scrutiny committees.

Respondents indicated a strong demand for a better information offer from the LGO, with 70% saying they would appreciate more focus reports, and planning was cited as a key topic of interest.  

Furthermore, more than three quarters (77%) said they wanted the LGO to provide better access to the detailed data held on a wide range of complaints across local government – such as social care, housing benefit, transport and highways, environment and waste and council tax.

Only a quarter said the LGO should continue to be sponsored by the DCLG.  One respondent said: ‘The DCLG comes across as being positively hostile to local government – and the LGO cannot be seen to be independent of that hostility as long as it reports to that body.'

Some 31% said the Ombudsman should have a closer relationship with all government departments and just more than a quarter, 26%, said the LGO should be directly accountable to Parliament in order to be seen as fully independent.

‘The key for the Ombudsman is to release the true value of its role with many elected councillors calling for more direct support and provision of data on their own local authorities,' Dr Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive for the LGiU said.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman said the statistics were very heartening as the LGO prepared to enter its 40th year of operation next year.

Dr Martin said she appreciated that local authorities are accountable to the public and LGO has a role to play in supporting good complaints handling locally, and did not want to replace the Audit Commission or take on the remit of the disbanded Standards Board for England.

‘Elected members play the primary role in ensuring local accountability and we are pleased that there is considerable appetite amongst councillors for us to share information about complaints with them.'