Public Body Complaint & Failure to Act Solicitors
When a public body refuses to act, delays unreasonably, or fails to carry out its statutory duties, the affected person is entitled to a remedy — not simply an apology. A solicitor will identify the duty and enforce it.
Public bodies — local authorities, NHS bodies, government departments, and regulatory agencies — exercise statutory functions that affect people's lives. Where a public body fails to carry out a statutory duty (whether by refusing to act, delaying to act, or acting inadequately), the person harmed by that failure is entitled to challenge it. The challenge routes are: formal internal complaint; the relevant ombudsman (the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, or the Housing Ombudsman); and, where no other remedy provides adequate redress, judicial review in the High Court. A solicitor will advise on the applicable duty, identify the most effective challenge route, and manage the process to the outcome the client needs.
Public Body Complaints & Failure to Act
Public body complaints and failure to act — the duties most commonly breached and the enforcement routes available for each one.
Every public body's power to act comes with a corresponding duty to act lawfully, within time, and in accordance with its statutory functions. Where those duties are not performed, there is a legal remedy — not just a complaint procedure. A solicitor will identify the statutory basis for the duty and pursue the remedy that provides real enforcement.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)
The LGSCO investigates complaints about local authorities in England — covering social care, housing, planning, benefit administration, and all other local authority functions. The LGSCO can find that the authority committed maladministration — poor administration, failure to follow its own procedures, significant delay, or poor service — and recommend: an apology; financial compensation; action to remedy the injustice; and changes to the authority's procedures to prevent recurrence. Before complaining to the LGSCO, the complainant must exhaust the authority's internal complaints procedure (receiving a final decision). A solicitor will advise on whether the LGSCO is the appropriate route, draft the complaint, and support the complainant through the investigation — ensuring the authority's maladministration and the injustice caused to the complainant are clearly set out and evidenced.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
The PHSO investigates complaints about NHS bodies in England and government departments. Where an NHS body — a GP surgery, a hospital trust, a mental health trust, or a clinical commissioning group — has caused injustice through poor administration or service failure, the PHSO can investigate and recommend compensation and remedial action. Complaints about NHS bodies must first be made to the NHS body itself (using the NHS complaints procedure), and then — if unresolved — to the PHSO. A solicitor will advise on the NHS complaints procedure, draft an effective formal complaint to the NHS body, and — where the NHS body's response is inadequate — support the referral to the PHSO and the investigation. Where the NHS failure amounts to clinical negligence, a solicitor will also advise on the civil litigation route in parallel.
Housing Ombudsman — social housing and landlord complaints
The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints about social housing landlords (housing associations and local authority housing departments) in England. Where a social housing landlord has failed to carry out repairs within a reasonable time, failed to respond to damp or mould, failed to manage anti-social behaviour effectively, or failed to follow its own policies in allocating accommodation or dealing with possession proceedings, the Housing Ombudsman can find maladministration and recommend compensation and remedial action. A solicitor will advise on the Housing Ombudsman complaint procedure, draft the complaint to the landlord (a mandatory step before the Ombudsman will investigate), and support the referral to the Housing Ombudsman where the landlord's response is inadequate.
Failure to carry out statutory duties — enforcement by judicial review
Where a public body is under a statutory duty (not a discretionary power) to carry out a specific function and fails to do so, judicial review is available to enforce the duty. Common examples include: a local authority's duty under s.9 Care Act 2014 to assess a person's care and support needs; a local authority's duty under s.17 Children Act 1989 to provide services to children in need; an NHS body's duty to provide healthcare within a reasonable time; and a local authority's duty under s.193 Housing Act 1996 to secure accommodation for an eligible homeless person. A solicitor will send a pre-action protocol letter requiring the public body to carry out its duty within a specified time — and, if the body fails to comply, issue judicial review proceedings seeking a mandatory order to compel performance of the duty.
Regulatory failures — challenges to regulators and licensing authorities
Regulatory bodies — the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the General Medical Council, the Financial Conduct Authority, professional licensing bodies, and others — exercise statutory functions that affect individuals and businesses. Where a regulator fails to investigate a complaint, takes disproportionate enforcement action, or fails to follow its own regulatory procedures, the affected person has a right to challenge the failure. Challenge routes vary by regulator: some have statutory appeal processes; others can be challenged by judicial review. A solicitor will identify the correct challenge route for the specific regulatory failure, prepare the challenge, and — where appropriate — seek interim relief to suspend the regulator's action pending the outcome of the challenge.
Data subject rights and FOI — enforcing access to information
Individuals have the right to access personal data held about them by public bodies (under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), and the right to request other information held by public bodies (under the Freedom of Information Act 2000). Where a public body refuses a subject access request, fails to respond within the 30-day statutory time limit, or refuses a FOIA request without adequate legal grounds, the individual can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). A solicitor will advise on the scope of the data subject access right, draft the request, draft the complaint to the ICO where the public body fails to comply, and — where the ICO fails to take enforcement action — pursue the complaint by judicial review or by an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights).