Ombudsman complaints

Our work

Public bodies can be held to account by the Ombudsman governing a specific issue. For example, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will consider complaints against local authorities and make findings on whether there is any fault.

MSB’s public law team advises and act for clients who wish to make complaints against public bodies, taking it to the Ombudsman stage.

Arrange a consultation:

Our expert public law department acts on behalf of businesses and individuals who need legal representation on matters concerning the Government. We are proud to have developed long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients we advise, helping them achieve the best possible outcomes. Get in touch with our team of experts to arrange a consultation.

“The team has strong and confident leadership but even young members starting out on their careers, clearly seem to embrace the culture. I have spoken to younger members of the team and they know that they can ask advice of partners and senior members.”

Understanding the issue

We advise and act for clients in a broad range of complaints against public bodies, following the complaints process and later raising the complaint with the appropriate Ombudsman. This could, for example, be the level or lack of care and assistance provided to a vulnerable adult by the Adult Social Services Department of a local authority.

Our expert team has an in-depth knowledge in all areas of Ombudsman complaints. It is very important to follow the complaints process first, otherwise the Ombudsman is unlikely to consider the complaint. When raising any complaint and advising on any reply, our public law team will also be able to identify other issues such as breach of statutory duty. These can often give rise to other causes of action for our clients.

Why MSB?

We have experience across all areas of public law and actions against public authorities. We can also call upon the expertise of our family, crime and social housing departments who interact with public bodies on a day to day basis. We understand the worrying and stressful issues some of our clients will face, which is why the specific case handler acting for each client will be considered in advance, helping us to provide the best possible service for you.

Funding options

We can offer various methods of funding to our public law clients. The most common method is legal aid as MSB has the benefit of contracts from the Legal Aid Agency for Public Law and also Actions Against Public Authorities. Such funding is subject to assessment of the financial means of a client, and also the merits of a case.

For those clients and cases where Legal Aid is not available, matters can be paid for privately. Depending upon the nature of the instructions we are also able to give consideration to damages-based agreement and no win no fee agreements.