§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases investigated and rejected by(a) the local government and (b) the parliamentary ombudsmen that have subsequently gone to judicial review have been successful and found in the complainant's favour; and if he will make a statement. [6210]
§ Mr. LeslieThis information is not held centrally. However, I would refer the hon. Gentlemen to general information on caseload which is published in the ombudsmen's annual reports.
§ Judy MallaberTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he intends to take following the consultation exercise on the review of the public sector ombudsmen in England. [6445]
§ Mr. LeslieThis Government are committed to the renaissance of public services, improving access and delivery and driving up standards. The effective handling of complaints is an important element of this programme of renewal, but there will be times where, having pursued a complaint about a particular public service, a complainant remains dissatisfied. Such cases need to be considered independently and that role is fulfilled by, among others, the public sector ombudsmen in England that were the subject of this review. These ombudsmen comprise the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Health Service Commissioner and the Commission for Local Administration (which comprises the three local government ombudsmen and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration ex officio).
In 1999, following representations from the ombudsmen, the Government announced a review to determine whether the present arrangements are in the best interest of complainants and others, against the background of moves towards more integrated public services and an increasing focus on the needs of the consumers of such services. The review team consulted widely and their report was published in April 2000. A consultation paper seeking views on the review's main recommendations and its other conclusions was published last June. In all we received 174 responses to the consultation paper and copies will be placed shortly in the Library of the House together with a statement of the Government's conclusions.
Briefly, these are that, in light of the responses received to the consultation paper, the Government are satisfied that there is broad support for the review's main recommendations.
465WWe therefore intend to replace the existing arrangements by a unified and flexible ombudsman body for central and local government and the national health service (excluding NHS Pensions, which will continue to fall under the jurisdiction of the pensions ombudsman, established by Part X of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993 (as amended)). In line with the review's recommendations, there will be direct access to this new body irrespective of whether the complaint is concerned wholly or in part with a central Government body. Furthermore, and again in line with the review's recommendations, the new body will have a collegiate structure within which the individual ombudsmen are identified with a particular group of the bodies under jurisdiction but free to carry out crosscutting investigations. Proposals for the precise powers and accountability of the new body, and on whether its jurisdiction should be extended beyond the bodies subject to the Jurisdiction of the existing ombudsmen, will be published in due course.