and family services there is a special procedure provided by Parliament for the purpose, so the Ombudsman normally expects people to go through all the stages first, even if it takes more than 12 weeks. I complained to the council before it decided the issue I am concerned about ?? can I complain to the Ombudsman now? No, because until the council makes a decision affecting you, we do not consider that there is a cause for your complaint. Once it takes that decision, then you should give the council 12 weeks to respond to the complaint about it. Why have you sent my complaint to the council? ?? I want to complain to the Ombudsman not the council. The Local Government Act 1974 says that, before investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman must be sure that the council knows about the complaint and has had a reasonable opportunity to investigate and reply to it. We usually expect you to go through all stages of the council's complaints procedure before we will look at your complaint. We have concluded, from what you have told us, that the council has not had sufficient opportunity to consider your complaint and so we have sent it to the council so it can respond. Why must I allow the council 12 weeks to respond to the complaint when I know it will not change its decision? Experience suggests that many councils are quite successful at resolving complaints through their own complaints procedures. About two thirds