The Ombudsman upheld 36 of 39 complaints it investigated against MK Council last year, 15 about SEND, and says late remedies are a problem for the fifth year running.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld 36 of the 39 complaints it investigated against Milton Keynes City Council in the year to March 2026. That is 92%, against an average of 85% for similar councils.
Fifteen of the 36 upheld complaints were about special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The Ombudsman has also told the council, for the fifth year in a row, that it is too slow to put things right once a complaint has been upheld. Its letter of 8 July says: “It is particularly concerning that this is the fifth consecutive year we have raised this matter.”
The figures went to the council’s Delegated Decisions meeting on Tuesday 6 October, in a report for Deputy Leader Cllr Lauren Townsend to note.
The numbers
The Ombudsman’s own statistics page for the council sets Milton Keynes against the average for similar councils:
| Measure, 2025/26 | Milton Keynes | Similar councils |
|---|---|---|
| Investigated complaints upheld | 92% (36 of 39) | 85% |
| Upheld decisions per 100,000 residents | 11.8 | 5.6 |
| Council had already offered a fair remedy | 6% (2 of 36) | 13% |
| Recommendations carried out on time | 61% (22 of 36) | 77% |
| Recommendations carried out at all | 100% | 100% |
Adjusted for population, Milton Keynes had more than twice as many upheld decisions as the average council of its type.
The council did carry out every remedy the Ombudsman asked for. It was late in 14 of the 36 cases.
More complaints, and more of them investigated
The council’s report gives three years of figures:
| 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referred to the Ombudsman | 111 | 113 | 146 |
| Investigated | 15 | 20 | 39 |
| Upheld | 14 (93%) | 15 (73%) | 36 (92%) |
Investigations nearly doubled, from 20 to 39. The share upheld went back up to the 2023/24 level.
What the upheld complaints were about
The council’s report breaks down the 36 upheld complaints by service:
- SEND: 15
- Homelessness: 3
- Child protection: 2
- Housing allocations: 2
- Children with disabilities: 2
- Complaint handling: 2
- Pests, housing neighbourhoods: 1
- Fostering: 1
- Traffic management: 1
- Transition from children’s services: 1
- Adult social care finance: 1
The report notes that SEND “features heavily as a complaint theme for most local authorities”.
What the Ombudsman said
The Ombudsman, Amerdeep Clarke, wrote to the council’s chief executive on 8 July. The letter was published on the Ombudsman’s website a week later.
It says delays in answering requests for information “hindered our investigations”. In one children’s services case, the Ombudsman threatened to issue a witness summons before the council handed the information over.
Late remedies included apologies and payments owed to the people who complained. The letter says this caused “unnecessary waiting and frustration for complainants”.
It ends: “Overall, there has been no clear evidence of sustained improvement since we met in 2024.”
What the council says
The council’s report reads the year differently. Its summary says the letter “reflects the positive work that MKCC has been doing to deal with complaints promptly and effectively from the outset”.
It says agreed remedies were later completed, and that the delays came from a mix of service improvements still being put in place and “factors outside of the Council’s direct control”. Oversight and monitoring have since been strengthened, the report says. It does not give a target for on-time remedies.
The council handled 3,193 complaints of its own in 2025/26, the report says, with 2,508 at stage one and 664 at stage two. Those two figures add up to 3,172. The report also puts upheld Ombudsman cases at “0.01%” of stage one complaints. Thirty-six out of 2,508 is 1.4%.
What it means for you
If you have a complaint about the council, you normally have to go through its own two-stage complaints process first. The Ombudsman put 50 of last year’s 146 cases down as “not for us”. That category includes complaints brought before the council had a chance to deal with them.
If you are still unhappy after the council’s final reply, you can complain to the Ombudsman for free. It cannot normally look at a complaint if more than 12 months have passed since you first knew about the problem.
If the Ombudsman has already ruled in your favour and the remedy is overdue, tell the Ombudsman. Its decisions about Milton Keynes, with the service improvements the council agreed to, are searchable on its website.
Parents of children with SEND who are waiting for an education, health and care plan can find the services and support on offer in the Milton Keynes SEND local offer.
For other council news, see our pages on council tax bands and the council’s 2027 budget plan.
Sources
- Milton Keynes City Council, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Annual Letter, report to Delegated Decisions, 6 October 2026
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, annual review letter, 20 May 2026 and follow-up letter, 8 July 2026
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Milton Keynes Council statistics, 2025/26
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