Ombudsmen welcome plan for new Public Services Ombudsman

The Cabinet Office has today published a draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill, which would bring together the Local Government Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, to create a new Ombudsman service, to make it easier and more straightforward to complain about a range of public services.

The Local Government Ombudsman Dr Jane Martin and Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said jointly:

The creation of a single Public Ombudsman Service will make it easier for people to have their complaints about public services resolved.

‘The current complaint system is too complex and fragmented, leaving people confused as to which ombudsman to turn to if things go wrong or haven’t been resolved locally.

‘We have long been urging the government for these reforms, and are delighted we are one step closer to making this a reality.

‘We will be looking at the proposals carefully and look forward to working with the government to agree a practical and realistic timescale.’