Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 33
33
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 101
The Committee supports the PHSO’s work in promoting its services within vulnerable and marginalised communities.
Conclusion
The Committee supports the PHSO’s work in promoting its services within vulnerable and marginalised communities. We welcome the PHSO’s ambition to identify barriers to access, offer guidance to organisations, and increase awareness of its services with MPs and stakeholders. We support the suggestion from the Peer Review Panel to publish details of the PHSO’s outreach work.
Government Response Summary
The government will update the Committee on the Outreach program as it progresses, focusing on building trust and engagement with communities that rarely complain.
Paragraph Reference:
101
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We will update the Committee on our Outreach programme as it progresses. The priority is to engage with communities that rarely complain, and who have little or no trust of public sector organizations. As such, it will take time for us to establish and build up trust and engagement. We also acknowledge that, as PHSO is the final stage in the complaints process, it will take time before people may be ready to refer their unresolved complaint to the Ombudsman, should they make a complaint as a result of our outreach programme. Our initial measurements of success will focus on whether we have been able to build trust and meaningful engagement, alongside knowing more about the concerns of key communities with public services, and what prevents them from complaining. We will update the Committee ahead of the next scrutiny inquiry.