Maladministration - what is it?

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), will only investigate “maladministration causing injustice”. The LGO have the power to investigate the way in which a local authority arrived at a particular decision but cannot review the decision itself just because the complainant does not agree with it. The complainant must prove that he or she has suffered an “injustice” as a consequence of a local authority’s poor or defective decision-making exercise.

There is no statutory definition of maladministration or injustice. However, the law provides that the LGO must look for maladministration, which includes:

• broken promises;


• delay;


• failure to follow procedures or the law;


• failure to investigate;


• failure to provide information;


• failure to reply;


• incorrect action or failure to take any action;


• inadequate consultation;


• inadequate liaison;


• inadequate record-keeping; and


• misleading or inaccurate statements

Again, there is no fixed definition of injustice but it can consist of:

• financial loss or unnecessary expense;


• hurt feelings, distress, worry, or inconvenience;


• loss of right or amenity; and


• time and trouble in pursuing a justified complaint

Any injustice must evolve from the fault by the local authority, for example:

• delay in carrying out repairs leading to a period of unsatisfactory housing conditions


• delay in processing a housing benefit claim or appeal leading to possession action for rent arrears


• failure to investigate or respond to complaints of noise nuisance causing excessive disturbance


• failure to investigate or respond to complaints of planning control breaches


• recovering an overpayment of council tax benefit while an appeal is outstanding, leading to recovery action by bailiffs.