Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of local authority complaints policies in meeting the needs of adults with severe learning disabilities.

The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 require local authorities that provide adult social care services to have complaints procedures that follow a certain process. They should work with the person raising the complaint to try and resolve it.

If someone is not satisfied with the outcome of their complaint to the local authority, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) can investigate individual concerns. The LGSCO is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care. Details of how to complain to the LGSCO can be found at the following link:

https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint

There is also a help and advice line available via telephone on 0300 061 0614, or one can write to The Local Government Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH.