MPs to question the Local Government Ombudsman

• Communities and Local Government Committee

The Committee intends to take oral evidence from the acting Chair of the Commission for Local Administration in England (the Local Government Ombudsman) after Easter on its Annual Report for 2011 and on its activities.  The Committee therefore invites submissions from interested parties, including academics with an interest in the scrutiny and operation of local government, on the work and activities of Local Government Ombudsman in England. To assist those submitting memoranda the Committee suggests it may cover the following matters: 

• the function, purpose and remit of the LGO, including the proposed restructuring of the Commission;
• the volume and nature of complaints made to the LGO and expected trends;
• the arrangements for handling complaints;
• the adequacy of redress when maladministration is found;
• the impact of the extension of jurisdiction to include complaints from those who arrange or fund their own adult social care;
• the impact of the LGO’s work on local authorities, particularly whether it leads to better administration and improved quality of service;
• LGO’s Strategic Corporate Plan and business plan; and
• the LGO’s management of staff, resources and budgets. In undertaking this inquiry the Committee does not intend to investigate, review or reopen individual cases considered by, or currently before, the LGO or its handling of particular cases.

Memoranda addressing any or all of these issues, in accordance with the guidelines set out below, are invited by 4pm on Friday, 23 March 2012.

Each submission should:

• be no more than 4,000 words in length;
• begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
• be in Word format with as little use of colour or logos as possible; and
• be accompanied by a covering letter or email containing the name and contact details of the individual or organisation submitting evidence.

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to clgev@parliament.uk and marked "Ombudsman".

It is helpful, for Data Protection purposes, for contact details not to be included in the text of submissions, but sent separately in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

A guide for written submissions to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website.

Please also note that:

• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work may be included.
• Memoranda submitted should be kept confidential until formally accepted by the Committee. The Committee has authorised the publication by witnesses of their evidence, but such publication should await the formal acknowledgement of acceptance of the submission as evidence to the Committee.
• Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or making it available through the Parliamentary Record Office. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.