Regulatory Reform (Collaboration etc. between Ombudsmen) Order 2007

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 18 December 2006 be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, the Government believe that the public sector ombudsmen—the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Health Service ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman—play an important role in contributing to the development and improvement of public services. The Government recognise that in order to investigate complaints as effectively and efficiently as possible, the ombudsmen would benefit from the removal of certain restrictions on their existing powers and working practices to enable them to provide a more efficient and streamlined service to the citizen. Therefore, the Government have worked closely with the ombudsmen to develop the proposed reforms set out in the draft order. The order would amend provisions in the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, the Local Government Act 1974 and the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 to enable the ombudsmen to work together more effectively and efficiently. Principally, the proposed reforms will enable the three ombudsmen to work collaboratively, including consulting each other, sharing information and working together on cases and issues that are relevant to more than one of their individual jurisdictions. The reforms would also enable them to appoint and pay a mediator or other appropriate person to assist them with any complaint that they are investigating. The Cabinet Office consulted widely on the proposals, including the bodies within the ombudsmen’s jurisdictions and key stakeholders and interest groups. There was broad support for the proposed reforms from the people we consulted. I will briefly run through the detail of the order. Articles 2, 4 and 6 would add new sections to all three Acts to enable the ombudsmen to conduct joint investigations with one another where a complaint relates to more than one of their individual jurisdictions, and enable them to make joint reports. Articles 3, 5, and 7 would amend all three Acts to enable the ombudsmen to delegate their functions to each other’s staff, if required, to support work on joint investigations. Articles 8, 10 and 11 would amend all three Acts to enable the ombudsmen to share information with each other in appropriate cases outside the course of their own investigation. Articles 12, 13 and 14 would amend all three Acts to enable the ombudsmen to appoint and pay a mediator or other appropriate person to assist them in relation to any complaint that they are investigating. That would apply to all investigations, not just those undertaken jointly. Article 15 would amend the 1974 Act to enable the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate a complaint that had not previously been notified to the authority concerned. That provision would be used only in the very small number of cases where the Local Government Ombudsman is convinced that no benefit would be achieved in requiring that the case be considered first by the relevant authority. Finally, Article 9 would make a technical amendment to the 1974 Act in respect of the law of defamation. I thank noble Lords who are members of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee for their work in scrutinising the draft order.The committee considers that the order meets the requirements of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 and recommends that it is appropriate for it to be made under that Act. Implementation of the proposed reforms would result in a more modern and accessible service for complainants. The reforms would create more streamlined and efficient complaints-handling processes for the public, for bodies within the ombudsmen’s jurisdictions and for the ombudsmen’s staff. The reforms are also an important element of the Government’s wider public service reform programme, which aims to ensure that public services are able to respond to the challenges and demands of today’s society by redesigning and refocusing services around the requirements of their users. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 18 December 2006 be approved. 10th Report from the Regulatory Reform Committee.—(Lord Davies of Oldham.)