5. Letter from the Scottish Public
Services Ombudsman
Thank you for your invitation to give oral evidence
to the National Assembly for Wales Local Government and Public
Services Committee and the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select
Committee in their joint consideration of the above Bill.
I regret that it is not possible for me to give
such evidence in person. As my Deputy, Eric Drake, will have explained,
I had an accident before Christmas. I have broken my ankle and
will not be able to travel for some time. However, I am pleased
that Eric is able to deputise for me and I am confident that you
will find his evidence of value.
As requested, I attach a short memorandum for
consideration by the Committees. As you will be aware, we have
very direct experience of merging the former offices of public
service Ombudsmen in Scotland. Unlike the situation in Wales,
my three (part-time) Deputies and I were appointed after the Scottish
Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 had been passed. We took up
our posts on 30 September 2002 and three weeks later began the
process of merging the three previous offices and operating the
new "one-stop-shop" service.
We have been happy to share our experiences
and the lessons learned with colleagues in Wales on an ongoing
basis. However, I thought it might be helpful if I summarised
some of the key issues in our written evidence to the Committees.
In addition, I enclose a copy of our first Annual Report which
outlines some of the steps taken by the SPSO in its first months
of operation. We would be happy to provide copies of other documents/guidance
that we have prepared and most of these are available on our website.
Professor Alice Brown
Ombudsman
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