The National Assembly for Wales’s Finance Committee has made a number of recommendations it feels will strengthen the role of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (the Ombudsman).
The Ombudsman’s role is to ensure that any member of the public who believes they have suffered an injustice through maladministration or service failure by a public body, is able to make a complaint with the reassurance that their complaint will be dealt with fairly and independently by the Ombudsman.
The Committee considered five areas that the Ombudsman believed would improve the current Act governing the role of the Ombudsman, including:
-own initiative investigation powers;
-oral complaints;
-complaints handling across public services;
-extending the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to include the private healthcare providers (in certain circumstances); and
-links with the courts.
The Committee believes that the first four proposals should be extended to the Ombudsman through legislative change to ensure his role is citizen-centred and legislation is future-proofed.
Jocelyn Davies AM, Chair of the Finance Committee said:
"The Committee agrees that changes are required to strengthen the Ombudsman’s role and to ensure the most vulnerable individuals, who are often most reliant on our public services, feel confident in complaining to the Ombudsman and have the right to a fair response to their complaint.
"Throughout this inquiry we heard a great deal of evidence, much of which has shown how important the Ombudsman’s role is.
"Undoubtedly we would all like to see a future in Wales that provides excellent public services but should that service fall short of an individual’s expectations, they need to have the confidence in the Ombudsman to investigate.
"We hope that should our recommendations be implemented this will enhance the role of the Ombudsman in Wales and increase public confidence."
Finance Committee's Report on Consideration of Powers: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PDF, 602KB)