Commission for Local Administration in England

Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 15 May 2009.

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Photo of Sammy Wilson Sammy Wilson Shadow Spokesperson (Communities and Local Government), Shadow Spokesperson (Education)

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of the Office of the local government ombudsman has been in each of the last five years.

Photo of John Healey John Healey Minister of State (Department of Communities and Local Government) (Local Government)

The amount of grant paid by this Department to the local government ombudsman from 2004-05 to 2008-09 is set out in the Local Government Finance Report and is as follows:

£
2004-05 11,058,000
2005-06 11,522,400
2006-07 13,221,000
2007-08 12,851,000
2008-09 12,600,000

For 2009-10 we have made provision in the Main Estimates of £16,155,000 for grants to the local government ombudsman, including a provision for possible future redundancies and a provision to fund the additional remit the ombudsman will have for schools and health matters, if and when the relevant provisions in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill and Health Bill currently before Parliament are enacted and come into force.

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Annotations

Thomas
Posted on 18 May 2009 12:34 pm (Report this annotation)

They are ineffective in what they do and just a drain on taxpayers. Sack the lot of them and save the taxpayer £16 million.

cindy wingate
Posted on 18 May 2009 1:02 pm (Report this annotation)

Agreed. This is a riduculous amount of expenditure. Why does common sense leave the room as soon as the tax payers purse is opened?

Paul Abraham
Posted on 18 May 2009 1:18 pm (Report this annotation)

It's worse than ineffective. By advertising itself as an "independent" watchdog, when actually it is nothing of the kind, it diminishes the accountability of the council officials it protects and from whose ranks its members are drawn.

We are paying this 16 million for councils to protect themselves from our scrutiny.

Ivan Porteous
Posted on 18 May 2009 1:24 pm (Report this annotation)

How can anybody see the justification of spending/wasting £16 million of taxpayers money on a body of people who have no say in the running of Local Government. A body who are only able to offer advice to local councils and can be ignored.
If the £16 million is being spent on making all the staff of the LGO redundant, then I would have no objection to this money being well spent. Then we may be able to set up a useful replacement for this useless department who will actually have the interests of the public at heart.

cindy wingate
Posted on 18 May 2009 1:30 pm (Report this annotation)

What would it take to change this? If I try to answer that myself... real people who care for others and do not put a FINANCIAL PRICE on EVERYTHING.


Community spirit has been murdered by these thieves.
Want evidence? TRY and set up a local community...'anything'. Regulation, Health and Safety, Political Correctness, etc... It cannot be done. This 'Brave New World' is a nightmare scenario.

For example, why can't we have free Local Swimming Pool access, day and night - INSTEAD of this mockery?