Wandsworth residents who complained about housing, social care and council services last year were more than twice as likely to be proven right by ombudsmen than residents in most other boroughs – yet the Council Leader told councillors the problem was simply part of a national trend.
Housing Ombudsman complaints against Wandsworth jumped 238% in a single year, compared to a 107% national increase. Complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman rose nearly three times faster in Wandsworth than across England.
But when Independent Councillor Malcolm Grimston challenged Council Leader Simon Hogg about the spike, he was told the “recent increases are reflected across local government” – implying Wandsworth was just keeping pace with everyone else.
The Council’s own newly-published [pdf] complaints data [pdf] proves that answer was misleading. While ombudsman complaints did rise nationally, Wandsworth’s deterioration was far worse.
What this means for residents
When residents complain to ombudsmen, it’s because they believe the Council has failed them and its own complaints process hasn’t put things right. These are serious cases about housing conditions, social care, school places, and other vital services.
In 2023-24, the Housing Ombudsman found maladministration – serious failings – in 65% of Wandsworth cases it investigated. That rate has now risen to 82%, higher than the national average of 80%.
The question raised by Cllr Grimston’s challenge: if Council leaders believe these problems are just part of an unavoidable national trend, will they take the urgent action needed to fix local failings?
The numbers behind the story
In 2023-24 – the period Cllr Hogg was answering questions about – complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) increased by 16% nationally. Wandsworth’s increased by 44%.
That means Wandsworth’s complaint rate grew nearly three times faster than the average for all councils across England.
For the Housing Ombudsman, the disparity was even starker. Nationally, formal investigations increased by 107% as the ombudsman expanded its powers and raised awareness of tenants’ rights. But Wandsworth’s housing determinations increased by 238% – more than double the national rate.
| Ombudsman | National Increase 2023-24 | Wandsworth Increase | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| LGSCO | +16% | +44% | 2.75x faster |
| Housing Ombudsman | +107% | +238% | 2.2x faster |
The Housing Ombudsman also issued 93 orders against Wandsworth in 2023-24, up from just 10 the previous year – an 830% increase in a single year.
The Leader’s answer
Independent Councillor Malcolm Grimston had challenged Cllr Hogg after noticing Wandsworth’s share of all ombudsman findings nationally had more than tripled between 2020-21 and 2023-24.
Cllr Hogg’s written answer acknowledged the increases but characterised them as part of a wider pattern: “Recent increases are reflected across local government to both the LGSCO and the HOS.”
The phrasing suggested Wandsworth was experiencing the same problems as everyone else – a rising tide affecting all councils equally.
Cllr Grimston told Putney.news the answer was “highly misleading”.
In his original challenge to the Leader, he questioned how the Council could be confident the Housing department was addressing the “apparently serious decline in performance” if officers had been led to believe the worsening position merely reflected increases across local government.
The spike year
The year 2023-24 saw a dramatic deterioration. LGSCO complaints jumped from 84 to 121, formal investigations nearly doubled from 18 to 32, and upheld findings rose from 15 to 27.
But the Housing Ombudsman figures were even more striking. The number of determinations – formal investigations finding fault – tripled from 8 to 27. The number of orders the ombudsman issued to put things right exploded from 10 to 93.
The Council’s 2023-24 complaints report said much of the housing increase was due to the ombudsman’s expanded powers and higher tenant awareness. It noted the 65% maladministration rate was “still lower than the national maladministration rate of 73%”.
That may have been true at the time – but it’s no longer the case.
Is it getting better?
The picture is mixed. LGSCO complaints continued rising to 142, but formal investigations dropped sharply to 23. The ombudsman told Wandsworth this was because the Council was “successfully remedying more complaints at stage 2” – fixing problems before they needed formal investigation.
That sounds positive. But the Housing Ombudsman data tells a different story: the maladministration rate jumped again from 65% to 82%, now above the 80% national average.
In other words, residents taking housing complaints to the ombudsman are now more likely to have maladministration found against Wandsworth than against the average landlord.
The Council issued 108 orders last year to remedy housing complaint failures, up from 93 the previous year.
| Year | LGSCO Investigations | HOS Determinations | HOS Maladministration Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 18 | 8 | 28% |
| 2023-24 | 32 | 27 | 65% |
| 2024-25 | 23 | 25 | 82% |
Why the Leader’s answer matters
Cllr Hogg was technically correct that ombudsman complaints have increased nationally. The LGSCO received over 20,000 complaints for the first time in 2024-25, and the Housing Ombudsman saw a 30% increase in decisions.
But when a council’s performance deteriorates more than twice as fast as everyone else’s, describing it as “reflected across local government” obscures the scale of local problems.
The question Cllr Grimston raised is whether characterising Wandsworth’s far-worse-than-average deterioration as simply reflecting a national trend could prevent the urgent action needed to address local failings.
Accountability Statement
We contacted: Wandsworth Council’s press office and Leader of the Council, Cllr Simon Hogg.
Request sent: 28 November 2025, 12:49pm
Cllr Simon Hogg
Leader of Wandsworth Council
Status: No response received.
Questions asked (click to expand)
The national comparison data was in the Council’s own published report. Was this report read before the Leader’s answer was given?
How does the Leader reconcile his statement that increases are “reflected across local government” with data showing Wandsworth’s increases were 2-3 times higher than national rates?
On what basis was the claim made that “the Council’s performance is good compared with other local authorities”? Will the Leader correct the record?
What action is the Council taking to address Ombudsman findings increasing at significantly above the national rate?
Wandsworth Council
Press Office
Status: No response received.
Questions asked (click to expand)
The national comparison data was in the Council’s own published report. Was this report read before the Leader’s answer was given?
How does the Leader reconcile his statement that increases are “reflected across local government” with data showing Wandsworth’s increases were 2-3 times higher than national rates?
On what basis was the claim made that “the Council’s performance is good compared with other local authorities”? Will the Leader correct the record?
What action is the Council taking to address Ombudsman findings increasing at significantly above the national rate?
Note: The Council’s 2024-25 complaints report does show Wandsworth receives fewer LGSCO investigations (23) than similar boroughs like Lambeth, Bromley and Enfield (average: 42.6), and has a lower upheld rate (78% vs 86% average). But these figures measure current performance, not the rate of deterioration that Cllr Grimston challenged the Leader about.
The full 2024-25 Annual Corporate Complaints Report is available on Wandsworth Council’s website as Paper 25-426.
Maybe they should ask him to present the budget next year? He seems to have all the necessary skills…