Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Complaints
Data reproduced on this page remains the copyright of the Commission for Local Administration in England (the official title of the body that runs the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman service).
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (often abbreviated as LGO) is an independent, free service in England that investigates complaints against local councils and adult social care providers.
The LGO can investigate individual complaints about councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other public service organisations. If they decide to investigate, they first look at whether organisations have made decisions the right way.
The LGO publish annual datasets relating to the number of complaints they have dealt with arising from each English council, and individual council reports are available for each financial year (1st April to 31st March) from 2018/19 through to 2025/26. These individual reports can be accessed here: Your council’s performance
The table beneath represents the totals of complaints escalated to the LGO from each of Surrey's local authority areas in the latest 2025/26 year from their publication. More detail is available from the LGO website itself.
Local Authority | Complaints dealt with by LGO | Not for LGO | Assessed and closed by LGO | Investigated by LGO | Complaints upheld by LGO | Satisfactory remedies provided by the council |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elmbridge Borough | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Epsom and Ewell Borough | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Guildford Borough | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Mole Valley District | 15 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Reigate and Banstead Borough | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | n/a |
Runnymede Borough | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Spelthorne Borough | 24 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Surrey Heath Borough | 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Tandridge District | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | n/a |
Waverley Borough | 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Woking Borough | 17 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Surrey County | 307 | 86 | 116 | 105 | 93 | 17 |
The summed totals for lower-tier councils (the Districts and Boroughs) which will comprise the new Unitary councils are given below. Note that the complaints relating to Surrey County Council have not been similarly apportioned out, as there is currently no accurate method for doing so.
Complaints dealt with by LGO | Not for LGO | Assessed and closed by LGO | Investigated by LGO | Complaints upheld by LGO | Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Surrey equivalent (lower tiers only) | 94 | 25 | 57 | 12 | 10 | 3 |
East Surrey equivalent (lower tiers only) | 75 | 33 | 33 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
Notes:
Complaints dealt with by LGO – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for LGO – includes complaints brought to the LGO before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed by LGO – includes complaints where the law says the LGO is not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if they did.
Investigated by LGO – the LGO completed an investigation and made a decision on whether they found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld by LGO – the LGO completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and the LGO agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Annual letters
You can also access Annual Letters from the LGO to individual organisations through their website. Direct links to the relevant Surrey organisations are as follows:
The LGO also record complaints data for Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. In the past two years, Annual Reports show zero cases dealt with: Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Annual Letters.