02.12.13
Call for a single public services ombudsman
The local government ombudsman should be reformed, a review by Robert Gordon CB has recommended, potentially by merging it with the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.
The government has agreed with the conclusions of the report and stated it intends to develop and test ideas for how a single public services ombudsman for England might operate.
The review suggested this could make it easier to register complaints and to seek redress. The governance arrangements of the ombudsman should be modernised and provide consistent leadership, it states.
Local government minister Brandon Lewis said: “The old ombudsman structure was outdated and not up to the task, modernising the organisation now is essential. In the longer term, creating a single ombudsman service for England may well provide us with the opportunity to deliver an excellent service to the public into the future.
“When things go wrong the public need to know they have an effective redress service that deals with complaints about local government in a speedy and cost effective way.”
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