Quick Search

Search by:

Parliament and the Ombudsman: fourth report of session 2009-10 report, together with formal minutes

House of Commons papers 107 2009-10

Corporate Author:
Great Britain Parliament House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee
Author:
Tony Wright (chairman)
Publisher:
TSO (The Stationery Office)

This report deals with two issues about the Ombudsman's relationship with Parliament, which are of increasing concern to the Ombudsman and to the Committee. The requirement, known as the ’MP filter', whereby the Ombudsman may only investigate a complaint referred to her by an MP, has been controversial since its inception. The current Ombudsman and her predecessor have repeatedly expressed to us their frustration, reflecting that voiced by members of the public, that the ’MP filter' remains in place. The up-coming dissolution of Parliament prior to a General Election will result in a five-week period in which people will be unable to take their complaints to the Ombudsman at all because there will be no Members of Parliament, a deeply unsatisfactory state of affairs. The abolition of the ’MP filter' is long overdue. The addition of a single clause to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill would achieve this and should be introduced as a matter of urgency. The second matter concerns Parliamentary debate when the Ombudsman issues a report indicating that the Government is failing to take steps to remedy injustice it has been found to have caused, as happened with the Equitable Life report. The Committee recommends an interim solution with the Government committing to providing a three-hour debate, in government time and on a substantive motion, on any future report by the Ombudsman concluding that injustice has gone unremedied. A longer-term solution not dependent on Government willingness to provide a debate is needed.

Extent [2], 9p. ISBN 9780215542519
Size N/A Price £5.00
Binding Paperback Published 09 Dec 2009
Availability Colour copy: 3 - 5 days Availability help (opens in new window) Delivery Delivery options and charges
Save
Add to Basket

Mail to a Colleague

Visit the TSO Parliamentary and Legal Bookshop

ITIL - Service Management

PRINCE2

BRC - British Retail Consortium

DSA - Learning to Drive

IiP - Investors in People

Follow TSO Publications on Twitter

Secure Site by Verisign - click to verify