Information request for the number of complaints made to PHSO about the Land Registry and Independent Complaints Reviewer in the last ten years, and the number of those complaints investigated by the PHSO and number upheld
I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request dated 24 May 2015 in which you asked for the following information:
"I should like to know the number of complaints made to PHSO the about Land Registry and the Independent Complaints Reviewer, plus the number of those complaints investigated by the PHSO and number upheld. I should like this information for the last ten years to the present time. I should also like to see the names of the MPs who have made those complaints about Land Registry and the ICR."
Please find attached two tables of data showing the number of complaints the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has received about the Land Registry and Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) in the last 10 years to date. You will also find data for the number of complaints we investigated and the number of investigations that were upheld or partly upheld in the same years.
I am unable to disclose the names of the MPs that referred complaints about the Land Registry and ICR to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. This is because the name of the MP is information obtained by the Ombudsman for the purposes of the investigation of a complaint.
Section 11(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (PCA 1967) prohibits the information obtained for the purposes of our investigations from being disclosed to the public. Because the PCA 1967 prevents the information you asked for from being disclosed to the public, section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000) prevents us from releasing the information under the FOIA 2000.
I hope that the information provided is helpful.
FOI/DP Officer
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman