More merger than radical reform: The Government’s response to its Consultation on a new Public Services Ombudsman

The following post first appeared on the website of the Ombudsman Association, 22nd December 2015.

 

In a pleasant Christmas present for ombudsman watchers, the Cabinet Office has published a response to its summer consultation on proposals to reform and harmonise public service ombudsman provision in (primarily) England. Although the response does not attempt any detail on the forthcoming Bill that it plans to submit sometime midway through 2016, it does confirm that the proposals remain on track and provides some clues as to the likely framework of the reformed office. This post offers this ombudsman watcher’s first reflections on the Cabinet Office’s plans.

Judicial Neutering of the Powers of the Ombudsman

The following blog was written in partnership with Brian Thompson, University of Liverpool, and was published on the website of the UK Constitutional Law Association on 10 November 2015


Conventional legal understandings of the powers of public service ombudsman schemes rest on the twin principles that they (a) have significant discretion with which to implement their powers and (b) have to operate fair processes, albeit not necessarily processes which meet the form and standards of the courtroom. One ongoing legal case in the health sector is challenging these central premises and is set to become the first ombudsman case to reach the Supreme Court. This blog highlights the inherent risks to the ombudsman model if the applicant’s arguments in that case are upheld.

Mapping the new world of accredited ADR schemes

The following blog first appeared on the UKAJI website on 19 October 2015. 

The ADR Directive is now fully operational in the UK. As of 1 October 2015, traders are required to notify their consumers as to their opportunities to pursue ADR and whether the trader chooses, or is bound, to adopt an accredited ADR process when complaints are received.  The focus of this blog is on the early results of the new regulatory arrangement put in place by the Directive, with a view to raising some likely issues of concern for the future.

Although the ADR Directive is primarily a consumer law issue, the overlaps in this area with administrative justice concerns are multiple, especially where ombudsman schemes are concerned (eg see Walter Merricks). Not only does the work of several accredited ADR schemes cover services which would once have been considered as essential public services, but some of the ombudsman schemes affected by the Directive are subject to judicial review. Moreover, in the medium term, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (Bis) approach to encouraging the sector will likely have an influence on the Government’s parallel efforts to upgrade the role of ADR in the traditional public sector. 

Not there yet, but some ombudsman reform buses have come into sight

The following blog was written in partnership with Brian Thompson, University of Liverpool, and was published on the website of the UK Administrative Justice Institute on 30 March, 2015.

Talk of reform and renewal of the public service ombudsman sector has a long history (eg see our work), but across the UK it would seem that we have at last reached a significant tipping point from which the British version could mature into a more rationalised and powerful agent of administrative justice.

26 March 2015 finally saw the publication of the Gordon review of public services ombudsmen, which was commissioned by the Cabinet Office in response to the 2014 Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) inquiry into the same topic. On the same day, the Cabinet Office launched a consultation on proposals for merging several ombudsman schemes in England. This process follows on from the ongoing Welsh Assembly inquiry into renewing the powers of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, a scheme usually considered the most modern in the UK. In Northern Ireland, a Bill to update the office’s powers has nearly been drafted and awaits an Assembly slot. Scotland has arguably had its innovatory renewal moment in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, although here too further reform is being mooted.

This blog outlines the key themes that cover these developments. Many of the reforms being canvassed have widespread support, but significant unresolved issues remain. We also note the key role played by both devolution and parliamentary committees in pushing ombudsman reform up the agenda of governments.