Whitehall ombudsman treated with indifference

27 Feb 03
A Commons committee has accused Whitehall departments of repeated administrative failures and departmental indifference in their approach to the Parliamentary ombudsman.

28 February 2003

Members of the public administration select committee called on the government to ensure that each organisation within the remit of the ombudsman has a designated contact, who would ensure a prompt response to any inquiries.

The ombudsman considers complaints from members of the public who have suffered injustice because of maladministration by government departments or public bodies.

Committee chair Tony Wright said: 'If public service reform is to have any meaning, government must root out maladministration and delay. The evidence we heard shows how far some departments have to go.'

The ombudsman, Sir Michael Buckley, said few departments in Whitehall understood how the Office of the Ombudsman worked. The worst Whitehall offenders take some 62 days to reply to queries from Buckley.

Singling out the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the Child Support Agency and the Legal Services Commission for particular criticism, the committee said poor record-keeping and delayed responses meant investigations into mismanagement by departments was 'uphill work'.

The administrative system at the CSA was 'complicated and badly run'. Staff lacked experience – 40% of them are under 30, a third have been with the agency fewer than two years and half earn less than £12,500 a year.

The decision by the IND to get rid of experienced caseworkers before a new IT system was in place 'verges on administrative negligence', the MPs said.

In a separate case, Home Office permanent secretary John Gieve was guilty of 'discourtesy' for not replying to the ombudsman for seven months, despite several reminders, according to the report.

Despite a series of requests, the Home Office failed to produce documents relating to the controversial passport applications by the Hinduja brothers, a controversy that led to the resignation of Peter Mandelson as Northern Ireland secretary.

The committee lambasted the department for its attitude to the Code on Access to Government Information, an open government initiative.

'It is six years since the first call for a major review of the public sector ombudsmen system,' the MPs say. 'Despite the fact that there is widespread agreement about the need for change and the general direction that needs to be taken, we appear no closer to achieving that change.

'If the government is serious about reforming public services to be more responsive to those that use them, it must make reform of the ombudsmen a priority.'

Wright said it was unacceptable that Whitehall departments were so casual about meeting their responsibilities. 'Such examples of incompetence and evasion shows the need for a strong and effective system of complaint and redress in the public services,' he said.

PFfeb2003

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