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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the remit of the Local Government Ombudsmen to include parish councils.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published its Triennial Review of their complaints and public accountability framework on 2 December. The Review made a number of recommendations to refine their legal framework. Recommendation 1.2 proposes that a pilot is developed to explore bringing a subset of the largest town and parish councils within the Ombudsman’s remit. The Government is considering the Review’s recommendations and will respond in due course.