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The annual report and accounts 2024/25 are out now
On 14 August 2025, the Ombudsman for Wales published its Annual Report & Accounts for 2024-25, which shows a staggering 43% increase in the number of new complaints received since the year preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.
The highlights
2024-25 marks another year of increasing caseloads, with more people than ever approaching the Ombudsman with complaints about public services. The Office has intervened early in more cases and reduced the time taken to complete investigations. The Ombudsman has also made strides in promoting improvements in public services through complaints standards work, own initiative investigations and thematic reports. Despite challenges, public confidence in the office is the highest on record.
Complaints about public services
During 2024-25, the Ombudsman received:
- 949 complaints about Health Boards, a 26% increase since 2019-20
- 1,337 complaints about Local Councils, a 54% increase since 2019-20
- 411 complaints about Housing Associations, a 103% increase since 2019-20.
At 34%, health remains the most common subject of new complaints. However, the proportion of complaints about housing has increased, to 19%. Positively, the proportion of complaints about complaint handling has continued to decrease and now stands at 12% – the lowest since 2019-20.
The Ombudsman found that something had gone wrong and intervened in 18% of complaints about public services closed during the year, compared to 20% the year before. Almost 9 out of 10 times, the Ombudsman intervened by proposing Early Resolution, to deliver justice quickly, without the need for a full investigation.
Organisations complied with 94% of the Ombudsman’s recommendations due during the year, but a lower proportion of recommendations were complied with in time with the target date agreed.
Kindly click here to read the full article.
The Full annual report & Accounts 2024-25, the Executive Summary and the report in an Easy Read version can be accessed by clicking at their links, respectively.
Source: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, UK
