Complaints and enquiries made to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman about Ealing Council rose by 20% last year, with 37 complaints upheld following formal investigation, newly published figures show.
The figures, published in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s Annual Review of Local Government Complaints 2025-2026, show the Ombudsman received 333 complaints and enquiries about Labour-run Ealing Council during 2025-26, up from 278 the previous year. It formally investigated 44 complaints, upholding 37 of them and not upholding seven.
Ealing Council recorded 9.59 upheld complaints per 100,000 residents, slightly below the London borough average of 10.2. Its uphold rate of 84.1% was also below the London average of 88%.
Among neighbouring boroughs, Brent, like Ealing, had 37 complaints upheld by the Ombudsman during the year. Hounslow had 26, while Hammersmith & Fulham and Hillingdon each had 20 and Harrow had 18.
After taking population into account, Hammersmith & Fulham recorded the highest rate of upheld complaints at 10.60 per 100,000 residents, followed by Brent (10.48). Ealing recorded 9.59, ahead of Hounslow (8.68), Harrow (6.65) and Hillingdon (6.08).
Ealing Council also carried out just over half (53.3%) of the Ombudsman’s agreed recommendations within the deadlines set. That was below the London borough average of 65.1% and ahead of only Hillingdon among its neighbouring boroughs.
Across England, complaints to the Ombudsman rose by 33% to 27,625 during 2025-26, the sharpest annual increase in more than a decade. London boroughs experienced the largest increase of any authority type, with complaints rising by 45%. Housing accounted for 37% of all complaints received in London, almost double the national average.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Amerdeep Clarke said: “Behind every complaint we receive is a person who felt they had nowhere else to turn: a parent trying to get the right support for their child at school, an older person struggling to access the care they need, or a family facing the very real prospect of homelessness.
“The sheer number of people coming to us this year tells us something important: increasingly residents feel they are not getting the help they are entitled to from their local council.
“Councils are under real pressure, and we recognise that. But everyone deserves to have their complaint heard fairly and the best councils use that learning to make a difference for residents.”
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, Councillor Mark Sanders, Ealing Liberal Democrats spokesperson for honesty and accountability, said: “Ealing Council continues to fail to deal with complaints in a timely manner, with only 11% of cases receiving a satisfactory remedy before they reached the Ombudsman. There is no excuse for this poor service.”
Councillor Clare Welsby, group leader of Ealing Green Party, also told EALING.NEWS: “While recognising the pressures on Ealing Council staff working hard to do their jobs well, the experience of many residents is one of frustration and disengagement. Residents understand councils face financial pressures, but they also recognise that investing in resolving problems early saves money in the longer term and improves lives.
“We believe Ealing Council should do more to find solutions at the outset, rather than allowing issues to escalate into formal complaints, Ombudsman investigations and other legal processes.”
An Ealing Council spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: “We take all complaints seriously and see them as an important opportunity to learn and improve services for residents. The Ombudsman’s figures relate to a wide range of council services and should be viewed in the context of the very large number of interactions we have with residents each year. Where the Ombudsman identifies fault, we carefully consider the findings and implement the recommended actions.
“We recognise there is more work to do to improve the timeliness of implementing recommendations in some cases and that our performance has not always met the standards we expect of ourselves.
“Over the past year we have strengthened our corporate complaints arrangements, revised our complaints policy to align with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, introduced faster response times for corporate complaints and strengthened oversight of Ombudsman cases. Cases are now reviewed regularly by senior leaders and a dedicated complaints board provides ongoing oversight to ensure lessons are learned and improvements are delivered.
“While we are not satisfied whenever agreed actions are delivered later than planned, Ombudsman recommendations are implemented and we continue to strengthen oversight to improve delivery against agreed timescales.”
