Care complaints to the Ombudsman up 22% as more are fixed early

More complaints, and more of them fixed before the Ombudsman steps in

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says its annual review, published on 24 September 2026, recorded 3,938 complaints and enquiries about adult social care in England in 2025-26, a rise of 22% on the year before (opens in a new tab).

Inside the same review is a number that runs the other way. The Ombudsman says around a third (33%) of upheld complaints about privately arranged care had already been put right by the provider before it investigated, up 13 percentage points on the previous year (opens in a new tab).

That gap matters to operators and to the councils that commission care. The rising count will be quoted as proof that care is getting worse. The early-remedy figure suggests that more providers are dealing with complaints properly before they escalate.

When a complaint is investigated, it is usually upheld

The Ombudsman says that where it did investigate, it upheld 77% of complaints (opens in a new tab), and that organisations complied with 99.8% of its recommendations. Once a complaint reaches a full investigation, the person who made it is usually right.

Putting something right early does not take a complaint out of the upheld total. As the Ombudsman reports it, the 33% is a share of upheld complaints, not a separate group. What changes is that the family has had an answer before an outside body had to give one.

The Ombudsman says complaints from people who fund their own care in the independent sector rose 10% to 368 (opens in a new tab), and puts this down to greater public awareness of the right to complain. More self-funders now know they can take a complaint to the Ombudsman when they are not satisfied with how a home or agency has dealt with it.

Care England says the pattern points at funding, not only at providers

Care England, which represents independent care providers, reviewed almost 450 published Ombudsman decisions from June to August 2026. It found recurring themes: communication, care planning, record keeping, complaint handling, commissioning responsibility and funding sufficiency.

The first four of those themes sit with providers. The last two sit with councils. Care England's chief executive said that funding that no longer pays for the support someone was assessed as needing (opens in a new tab), or responsibility passed between organisations, points to wider structural pressure, not a simple administrative issue.

This is the argument commissioners will meet in fee talks. A complaint that traces back to a package that no longer covers assessed need is a complaint about the fee as much as about the care. The Local Government Association's Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor said the review underlines the ongoing pressure on the sector (opens in a new tab) and the need for sustained and predictable funding.

The figures cannot yet show where the rise comes from

The review does not break complaint numbers down by region, council, provider or service type. Nobody can tell from it whether care homes or home care are driving the rise, or which councils attract the most complaints.

The Ombudsman puts part of the rise down to people knowing more about their right to complain, rather than only to care falling short more often. The figures do not show how much of the rise comes from each.

Care England's themes are not counted either: it has not published how many decisions fell under each one. Its reading is a provider body's view, though it rests on the Ombudsman's own decisions.

The question is what counts as fault when a complaint is upheld because a care package no longer pays for what someone was assessed as needing. The fault is real. Until someone counts those cases, nobody can say how often it sits with the provider and how often with the commissioner.