§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many complaints he has received regarding the performance of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration; and what plans he has to introduce legislation proposals to improve the complaints process. [3509]
§ Mr. FreemanThe parliamentary ombudsman is an independent Officer of the House and reports to the Select Committee chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey). I have occasionally received complaints only about the time taken by the parliamentary ombudsman to complete an investigation: this has not been a significant element of the correspondence handled by my Department, and the number of complaints has not been monitored. I have no plans to introduce legislative proposals on the complaints process.