§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the circumstances under which the local government ombudsman considers cases referred more than 12 months from the day when the complainant first thought that maladministration was occurring; and what plans he has to introduce legislation to record such circumstances in law. [34498]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordUnder section 26(4) of the Local Government Act 1974, the local government ombudsman may conduct an investigation into a complaint outside the 12-month period if he considers it reasonable to do so. In any such case, it is for the ombudsman to decide on the facts of that individual case whether it would be right to exercise his power to investigate. The local government220W ombudsman's current arrangements for handling complaints are being considered as part of the second stage of the review, which was announced on 12 February 1996 by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration, Official Report, column 402.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases the local government ombudsman has handled in each year of his existence. [34500]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe number of cases handled by the three offices of the local government ombudsman service in England is as follows:
Year Complaints received Complaints determined 1974–75 473 355 1975–76 2,249 1,916 1976–77 2,277 1,930 1977–78 2,464 1,519 1978–79 2,116 2,031 1979–80 2,181 2,105 1980–81 2,434 2,303 1981–82 2,706 2,501 1982–83 2,743 2,763 1983–84 3,034 3,019 1984–85 3,389 3,284 1985–86 3,502 3,134 1986–87 4,059 3,853 1987–88 4,229 4,158 1988–89 7,055 5,961 1989–90 8,733 7,290 1990–91 9,169 9,104 1991–92 12,123 10,713 1992–93 13,307 14,057 1993–94 14,253 13,718 1994–95 15,525 15,140 1995–96 15.226 16,344
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of recent assessments made of the performance and level of service of the local government ombudsman. [34502]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordAs announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration on 12 February 1996,Official Report, columns 402–03, the second stage of a review of the local government ombudsman service is currently in progress. Copies of the report on the first stage of the review, which examined the need for an independent system for the investigation of complaints, were placed in the Library of the House on that date. The second stage will focus particularly on the efficiency and effectiveness of the local government ombudsman service as an investigatory body.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many complaints he has received regarding the local government ombudsman office's handling of cases in each year since the office was established. [34499]
221W
§ Sir Paul BeresfordDetailed records of this information are not kept by my Department. As announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration on 26 June 1995,Official Report, column 534, we have received more than 200 written representations expressing some dissatisfaction about the operation of the local government ombudsman service since 1 January 1994.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff are currently employed at the local government ombudsman's office. [34501]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordAt 1 June 1996, 213 staff were employed by the three offices of the local government ombudsman service in England.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current budget allocation for the running of the local government ombudsman's office; and if he intends to review its funding. [34503]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe local government ombudsman service is funded by a grant made annually by my Department from the revenue support grant. The grant for 1996–97 is £6.7 million, in addition to which a further £600,000 is available to the service from its own resources—reserves and income earned. The funding of the local government ombudsman service is currently being considered as part of the review which was announced on 12 February 1996 by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing, and Urban Regeneration,Official Report, columns 402–03.