Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (LGO 01)
INTRODUCTION
1. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
has policy responsibility for the legislative framework within
which the Local Government Ombudsman operates, and for the Government's
sponsorship of the Local Government Ombudsman.
2. The Ombudsman is a long standing and
respected organisation which plays an important part in encouraging
high standards in local public service provision. The Office fully
supports the Ombudsman in carrying out this role.
3. This memorandum provides information
on the legislative framework which provides powers to the Local
Government Ombudsman and on the Office's operation of its sponsorship
role for the Ombudsman service.
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
4. The Local Government Ombudsman (formally
titled the Commission for Local Administration in England) was
established by Part III of the Local Government Act 1974. The
legislation sets out the Ombudsman's role, which is to conduct
investigations into complaints from members of the public that
they have sustained injustice in consequence of maladministration
by a local authority. The Ombudsman may also provide advice and
guidance to authorities on good administrative practice.
5. The Commission comprises three Ombudsmen
(their formal title is Commissioners for Local Administration),
each responsible for investigating complaints for one part of
the country, and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.
6. The Ombudsman's jurisdiction covers all
local authorities (excluding town and parish councils); police
authorities; education appeal panels; and a range of other bodies
providing local public services.
7. The Ombudsman's jurisdiction does not
cover parish councils. Every local government elector for parish
councils has the right to raise any matter affecting parish business
at the annual meeting. In this sense democracy is more direct
than in the case of county and district councils and gives the
electorate the means themselves to raise any concerns which they
may have affecting the business or the conduct of the parish or
town council.
8. The Financial Management and Policy Review
of the Local Government Ombudsman, laid before the House on 28
November 1996, concluded that, for these reasons, there seemed
to be no urgent need to bring parish councils within the jurisdiction
of the Ombudsman.
ROLE OF
THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN
SERVICE
9. The Ombudsman service is impartial, independent
of central and local government and access to the service is free
to complainants. Where it is found that a complainant has suffered
injustice caused through maladministration, the Ombudsman produces
a report with recommendations for the remedy to be provided by
the authority concerned.
10. Although authorities are under no obligation
to implement those recommendations, the fact that Ombudsman's
reports are published and feed into the Comprehensive Performance
Assessments for local authorities helps to ensure that recommendations
are acted upon.
11. The Ombudsman is also empowered to provide
advice and guidance to local authorities on good administrative
practice. It has significantly expanded this aspect of its work
over recent years and plans further expansion through the provision
of training courses to authorities. We welcome this development.
The provision to local authorities of training in handling complaints
and dissemination of good practice should encourage a culture
of high standards, and help to reduce the chance of complaints
arising in the first place.
12. As part of this continuing programme,
and in addition to its reports on individual complaints, the Ombudsman
issues special reports on specific subject areas.
13. In addition, following a successful
pilot scheme, the Ombudsman sent letters to every principal authority
in England in 2004-05 presenting an analysis of complaints it
had received during the year relating to each authority. The aim
of this is to help councils learn from the outcome of complaints
made and to identify where improvements can be made in internal
complaints handling.
14. The annual letters have become a central
part of the Ombudsman's joint working with the Audit Commission
on the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) process. The
Ombudsman sends the Audit Commission copies of statistics used
in the annual letters to be fed into its CPA inspections and be
taken into account in the assessment of authorities' overall performance.
SPONSORSHIP ARRANGEMENTS
15. The Local Government Ombudsman is funded
by a grant made annually by the Office from top-sliced Revenue
Support Grant for local government. This means of funding is more
administratively efficient than seeking contributions from individual
local authorities. Provision of £11,522,400 has been agreed
for 2005-06.
16. The three Commissioners are appointed
by The Queen (on the advice of the Deputy Prime Minister). The
Commission currently comprises Tony Redmond (Chairman and Chief
Executive), Patricia Thomas (Vice-Chairman), Jerry White and Ann
Abrahams, the Parliamentary Commissioner.
17. Mrs Thomas is due to retire at the end
of September this year. As part of its sponsorship responsibilities,
the Office is in the process of recruiting Mrs Thomas's successor.
It is hoped that the appointment will be made this month, allowing
the successful applicant to have the benefit of shadowing Mrs
Thomas during her final months in office.
MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS
18. A Grant Memorandum sets out the arrangements
agreed between the Ombudsman Commission and the Office, with the
consent of the Treasury, for the use of its grant.
19. A report is produced annually on the
grant paid to the Ombudsman in respect of the previous financial
year. In accordance with the Grant Memorandum, the Ombudsman sends
the Office an auditor's certificate together with their audited
accounts for the previous financial year, and their initial financial
estimates for the following year, and their final estimates in
line with projections in their corporate plan.
20. The Ombudsman is required to send the
Office copies of its corporate plan, annual report, final outturn
statement of expenditure for the previous financial year, audit
plans and reports, and management letters.
21. In addition, Ministers meet the Ombudsman
from time to time to discuss its budget and workplan. This is
supplemented by more regular meetings at official level to consider
progress and performance issues.
PERFORMANCE
22. The total number of complaints received
by the Local Government Ombudsman is currently running at around
19,000 a year. These are dealt with by the Ombudsman's staff of
about 200 operating on a grant of £11.5 million.
23. The Ombudsman has delivered significant
improvements in performance in recent years, including increases
in the number of cases dealt with per member of staff (from 91.2
in 2002-03 to 96.9 in 2003-04) and an increase in the percentage
of cases dealt with within 26 weeks (from 78.7% in 2002-03 to
83.9% in 2003-04). Further efficiency improvements are planned,
including a reduction in the number of support staff, and a review
of the casework management system.
CLOSER WORKING
WITH OTHER
PUBLIC SERVICE
OMBUDSMEN
24. To help facilitate the Ombudsman's change
agenda, we are working with the Cabinet Office on the preparation
of a consultation paper on a draft Regulatory Reform Order which
would amend primary legislation to facilitate closer working between
the Local Government, Health and Parliamentary Ombudsmen.
25. The Order would remove legislative constraints
on joint working between these organisations, including limitations
on the ability of the Ombudsmen to consult with each other, share
information, and undertake joint investigations and reports.
26. The centrepiece of the proposals is
a "one-stop" shop approach whereby complaints could
be submitted to any one of the Ombudsmen, and could, if necessary,
be passed to another Ombudsman to take the lead in the investigation,
without having to refer the case back to the complainant, which
current legislation requires.
27. Proposed changes enabling information
sharing and joint investigations would also deliver a more customer-focused
and efficient service for users.
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