I've posted previously on how a couple of councils have failed to follow the adjudication of the local government ombudsmen when they have been found guilty of maladministration causing injustice.

Perhaps the most egregious example was Trafford whose treatment of a young woman with disabilities and her family has been callous.

Some people have been trying to find how many other councils have ignored the findings of ombudsmen.

Documents posted here from a freedom of information request show that 143 and one school have ignored findings.

Now these date from 1974 to the present period and they also only cover the one rejected entirely. As the discussion on this board shows, the numbers not accepting these independent findings is likely to be higher.

The ombudsmen say that outright rejections are rare and voluntry codes are more effective.

But these figures suggest this approach need to be rigerously tested.

There is a petition asking for the government to make all ombudsmen's rulings legally binding on the Prime Minister's website.