LGSCO Focus Report: Equal Justice: Learning Lessons From Complaints About People’s Human Rights

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman has published their report on Equal Justice: Learning Lessons From Complaints About People’s Human Rights.

This report highlights how councils should take into account human rights when making decisions and designing services. They are sharing their findings on complaints about people’s human rights to help councils to incorporate this thinking into the way they deliver services and how they communicate with the public.

The LGSCO stated "When things do go wrong, councils should think not only about the service provided, but about whether people’s rights have been affected too to ensure that things are put right, and see that lessons are learned for the future. There are basic expectations that should be met for all service users whenever they communicate or have dealings with a local council. Human rights are not just for those facing persecution, people’s basic rights should be at the heart of the services councils provide, and considered when designing and delivering services".

The report also uses a number of cases studies which look at what went wrong and how it could be resolved and highlights that these stories are driven by a familiar set of issues: the principle of people being treated with fairness, respect, dignity, on equal terms, and recognised as an individual. 

The report can be viewed here