Slow, biased, disengaged, lacking rigour
I waited patiently for seven months for LGSCO to get around to investigating my complaint about the local Council. When they finally did, they completely misinterpreted my complaint and fundamentally misrepresented it in their decision. They didn’t even bother to contact me to confirm whether their understanding was correct. Having entirely misunderstood my complaint, they went on to simply reiterate what the Council had told them as though it was fact, without any attempt to verify it and without any reference to or consideration of the significant evidence I had provided to counter it. Based on the LGSCO’s response, it seems unlikely that they had even read my submission. Consequently, I raised a service complaint about LGSCO’s handling of the case: that it was biased, failed to engage with evidence, and was lacking in reasoned decision-making. LGSCO refused to consider it. Something is seriously wrong when a body appointed to act in the public interest considers itself beyond reproach or complaint from the very people they exist to serve! If my experience is anything to go by, perhaps LGSCO should consider renaming itself: Local Government’s Systemically Complicit Ombudsman.