It's a step in the right direction and not something the Ombudsman was expecting from this review which is bloody great!
The MPs clearly saw right through the 'oh it's just alot of disgruntled complainants who are unhappy because we didn't agree with them' malarky they always trot out.
The fact is that, internationally, and in Europe, the institution of the Ombudsman is being transposed in a very progressive way as a cost effective way of promoting and enforcing basic rights. There are examples of institutions proactively challenging poor practice and trying to promote best practice based on internationally agreed standards for good administration such as those set out in the ECHR and the relevant Council of Europe documents.
The LGO has incorporated such standards in its own documentation but is not even prepared to enforce them. And there is NOTHING to stop the LGO doing this.Its mandate is so wide: there is nothing in its originating statute which prevents it from interpreting its role very progressively and in manner which is compliant with broader human rights and public law obligations - indeed it actually has a duty too.
This falls on deaf ears with the LGO who, unlike the PHSO, seem very unwilling to believe they have a duty to protect the vulnerable against poor administrative practice and who seem, constantly, to offer excuses for LAs that the LAs don't even seek to proffer for themselves.
One example: I've had a case ongoing with the LGO for 15 months (4 views, constantly changing excuses for the Council); I've had a case ongoing with the PHSO for two months and the first thing they say 'we may have to do a joint investigation with the LGO'.
Can you imagine the LGO ever coming up with that? Indeed, when I passed this on to the LGO investigator, she used that to complain I was copying her into agencies out of her jurisdiction????? I was simply informing her 
The LGO deliberately determine their remit as narrowly as they can. It is amazing how you will hear 'we can't deal with Tribunals/schools' but you find Tribunal/school evidence slipping in when it supports the LA.