Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
2nd Report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2018–19
Published 3 Jul 2020
Paragraph 55
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2018-19 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
As part of future scrutiny of the PHSO, the Committee will seek evidence that the PHSO has followed up on recommendations to ensure organisations are compliant with their recommendations. In cases in which it would not be appropriate for the PHSO to follow up on recommendations, the PHSO should ensure relevant bodies have been informed about their recommendations and the level of compliance with those recommendations. The PHSO should include compliance information in its Annual Reports and should set out the steps it has taken to maximise compliance with, and impact of, its reports. As part of this work, the PHSO should strengthen its relationships with Departmental Select Committees, especially at official level. Select Committees would benefit from learning about findings against Departments ahead of sessions with Permanent Secretaries on the annual reports and accounts.
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, 2nd Report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2018–19 (HC 117), paragraph 55, 3 July 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 September 2020 (deadline 3 September 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, agreeing with most and endorsing the call for a fresh start on Ombudsman reform legislation.
- On explaining its decisions, PHSO agrees there is a need to improve how it explains how it gathers and uses evidence. It says it no longer publishes internal process scores against the Service Charter, which have been replaced by a Quality Assurance Framework.
- On Covid-19 and timeliness, PHSO agrees transparency matters and is "currently considering how to present this information in the next Annual Report". On clinical advice, it says planned changes "may" be delayed and that it will conduct an independent evaluation during the next Peer Review.
- On legislation, PHSO "fully endorse[s]" starting the process anew and calls on the Government to revisit its plans for a single Public Service Ombudsman. It also supports removing the 'MP filter', calling the status quo "an outdated barrier to accessing justice".
- PHSO accepts the recommendation on compliance reporting and says it will "explore how best to report on compliance in the 2020–21 Annual Report". On the Complaints Standards Framework, it says the consultation will conclude by the autumn and it plans to pilot the Framework once finalised.