Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament
Y Pwyllgor Cyllid | Finance Committee
Adolygiad ôl-ddeddfwriaethol o Ddeddf Ombwdsmon Gwasanaethau Cyhoeddus (Cymru) 2019 | Post-legislative review of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019
Ymateb gan: Ombwdsmon Seneddol a Gwasanaeth Iechyd | Evidence from: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
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(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
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Yes
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The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is the last resort for complaints about the NHS in England and UK government departments. Like the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW), we are independent, impartial and our service is free for the public to use. We are held accountable by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament.
We welcome the Finance Committee undertaking a post-legislative review of the 2019 Act. We believe that it is important for the Welsh Senedd to assess the effectiveness of the PSOW’s powers as part of their role in strengthening citizens’ access to justice.
PHSO and the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) are currently members of the Public Services Ombudsman Group which provides a forum for working collaboratively with ombudsman schemes across the UK. We have also valued bilateral engagement at a Chief Executive Officer level on shared topics of interest regarding the operation of both our organisations.
In 2023, our Policy and Outreach teams met with PSOW counterparts (2023) to discuss the PSOW’s journey to legislative reform through the 2019 Act and any learnings we can take for seeking improvements to the accessibility of our own service. We were also grateful for discussions with the staff of the Senedd Finance Committee.
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Yes
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We are supportive of the PSOW’s own initiative powers. We know from our own research, outreach and engagement that there are particular groups in society who are less likely to make a complaint or face additional barriers in bringing a complaint to the Ombudsman. This includes people living with severe mental illness, people with English as a second language as well as younger people from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also know that public awareness more broadly of the Ombudsman and its functions remain low. These factors will likely also have a bearing in the devolved nations including Wales.
The PSOW’s own initiative investigation into homelessness assessment decisions demonstrate an important intervention. The investigation was informed by intelligence about a known issue in local authorities about which the Ombudsman had received a disproportionately low number of complaints. The PSOW was able to make practical recommendations and achieve compliance to support service improvement for a population who continue to be underserved by public services and with known barriers to bringing a complaint forward about poor service delivery. Similarly, PSOW’s 2024 investigation into the administration of carers’ needs assessments drew attention to the gap in support provision and poor joint working between health services and local authorities for unpaid carers.
Own initiative investigations can also have the secondary impact of raising awareness of the Ombudsman for potential complainants, improving access to justice beyond the life-course of the investigation.
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The Council of Europe’s Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman Institution (the Venice Principles) are a set of internationally accepted standards for the functioning and independence of the Ombudsman. The Principles state that ‘any individual … shall have the legal right to free, unhindered and free of charge access to the Ombudsman’. Ensuring that the Ombudsman institution has the power to investigate issues in the public interest or where there is reasonable suspicion of systemic maladministration is important in ensuring access to redress for those less likely or able to complain.
PHSO does not hold the powers of Own Initiative Investigation but has previously made calls for them as part of wider legislative asks around reform to our service. PHSO’s underpinning legislation is the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993. Complaints to PHSO (other than those made by victims of crimes) which are related to the conduct of a government department or other public body must be referred by a complainant’s MP. PSOW does not have the same limitation on access to its service and as such, PHSO remains out of sync with counterparts across the wider devolved nations and internationally.
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