Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the level of independence of the complaint review process within the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The legal powers underpinning the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s investigations are invested in the Ombudsman themselves and they have personal authority in the investigation of complaints. I therefore have no remit to interfere with the Ombudsman’s investigatory work.

This independence rightly keeps central government at arm’s length from the service that the Ombudsman provides to members of the public; a service which is an important element of the overarching local government accountability system.