Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve public accountability of the Local Government Ombudsman.

The Local Government Ombudsman is independent of both Government and local authorities as regards their determination of specific cases but is accountable to Parliament for the performance of the Local Government Ombudsman service and is statutorily required to lay before Parliament its annual report and accounts.

In addition the Communities and Local Government Committee have held inquiries into the service's work which has involved the Local Government Ombudsman giving evidence before the Committee.

In the Queen's Speech, the Government announced that it would publish a draft Bill creating a single Public Service Ombudsman in this Parliamentary session. In establishing such a Public Services Ombudsman which will improve redress when things go wrong, the Government would put arrangements in place to ensure that there is clear and transparent accountability for this new Ombudsman service.