Information request relating to cases requiring the Ombudsman's signature
I write in response to your information request dated 18 January 2015 in which you requested:
Please provide the following:
1. The current maximum number of i. Managers and ii. Directors who could be kept informed by Investigators of cases likely to require the Ombudsman's signature.
2. The current number of unclosed cases that i. Managers and ii. Directors have been informed by Investigators are likely to require the Ombudsman's signature.
3. The procedures that i. Managers and ii. Directors must adhere to when informed by an Investigator that a case is likely to require the signature of the Ombudsman.
4. Any guidance available to assist Investigators to determine whether a i. Manager or ii. Director should be informed of a case likely to require the Ombudsman's signature.
There are approximately 10 Directors/Assistant Directors and 27 Managers/ Assistant Managers who could be informed of cases that may need the Ombudsman’s signature. However this is dependent on the nature of the case.
I have attached all guidance we hold relating to cases that require the Ombudsman’s signature:
- Enquiry & assessment manual (page 22)
- Investigation manual (page 32-33)
- Complex investigation guide (page 30).
As we have previously explained in our responses to you (FDN 211310 and FDN 210264), in order to establish how many times Managers or Directors have been informed a case is likely to need Ombudsman’s signature, it would be necessary to manually review individual case files as we do not hold a central record in relation to this. There are currently over 2500 open investigations.
To do this, we have estimated it would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides an exemption from the obligation to comply with a request for information where the cost of compliance is estimated to exceed the appropriate limit (£450 or 18 hours at £25/hour).
Although you have again attempted to narrow the scope of your request, given the limitations of being able to search for the information you are interested in we are unlikely to be able to respond to any similar attempts to bring the request within the limits of the cost exemption.
I hope that the explanation provided is helpful.
Yours sincerely
FOI/DP Officer
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman