§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the present status of the lay adjudicator scheme outlined in the citizens charter White Paper.
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§ Mr. WaldegraveHaving considered how the lay adjudicator scheme might work in practice, the Government have decided that the first step must be to make sure that public services' own complaints systems are effective and operate in line with citizens charter principles. As announced in the "Citizen's Charter First Report: 1992" (Cm 2101), this will be achieved through two initiatives. One is Charterline, a telephone helpline to provide information about the citizens charter and individual charters; and about whom to contact for more information about public services or to make a complaint. Charterline will be piloted in May 1993 in the east midlands.
The second is a review of public service complaints systems by a review team of people with relevant experience and expertise drawn from a variety of backgrounds. The team will encourage public services to operate in line with citizens charter principles and will offer advice on setting up and improving complaints systems. The team will operate for a period of two years, at the end of which it will recommend any further measures that may be needed to address the issues identified in the citizens charter White Paper (Cm 1599).
Work is in hand on the setting up of the team and I hope to make a formal announcement before the end of the month.