URL: https://democracy.runnymede.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1076

Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose:

Content: The Committee received for information the annual Local Government Ombudsman’s letter and summary of statistics.   Members were advised that whilst the Council had received the Ombudsman’s letter, and set of statistics, at the time of writing the report they had not provided a general statement on performance overall across public authorities.  However, it had been published on the day of the meeting.  Therefore, Officers gave a brief summary of the national overview before moving to the Council’s own performance in the year ending 31 March 2025.   Officers advised that nationally the Ombudsman had reported a record number of complaints in the last year, over 20,000 for the first time, marking a 16% increase in each of the last two years.  In addition, the Ombudsman had upheld 83% of the cases investigated across the public authorities under its remit.   The Ombudsman had highlighted the number of cases about children services (which fell within the County Council’s remit) and various cases about housing, including homelessness and temporary accommodation.   The Ombudsman had referred back to the Triennial Review published in 2024; recommendations therefrom and that they were looking forward to the Government’s response and whether it would lead to any legislative change ahead of local government re-organisation and devolution.  Alongside the Ombudsman’s Annual Review, it was noted that the data about how local councils performed now had six years’ worth of data.   For the year ending 31 March 2025, the Committee noted that 9 complaints about the Council had been referred to the Ombudsman, of these 2 had been investigated and upheld.  Six cases had been referred to the Housing Ombudsman.  One case had been closed as outside their jurisdiction, and a decision was awaited on the remaining 5 cases.   Officers confirmed the receipt of one service improvement arising from the upheld Planning case.  This served as a reminder to keep full records of decisions and to provide regular refresher training to relevant staff.   Officers provided examples of service improvements from other local authorities, and comparative data with other councils in Surrey.  This showed that Runnymede continued to perform well, and promoted a culture of learning which Members found encouraging.   The Ombudsman’s new key performance indicator was included as approved at the last meeting; namely a summary of upheld decisions by the Ombudsman and action being taken as a result.  Due to the timing of decisions being issued this was now two cases upheld regarding Planning and Housing.   Officers were pleased to report that Runnymede had not received a ‘letter of concern’ about its complaint handling.  The Ombudsman had listed those authorities where full investigation reports had been released, of which there were 26.  Almost half were about housing cases in London boroughs.  Again, Runnymede was not the subject of any full investigation reports.   Officers advised that the annual report fulfilled the Council’s legal requirement to report cases that had been upheld, and the report was duly noted.

Date of Decision: July 16, 2025