8. Letter from Newport City Council
The Bill aims to bring together the separate
Offices of Welsh Administration Ombudsman, Health Service Commission
Wales, Commission for Local Administration in Wales and the Social
Housing Ombudsman for Wales, to create a unified Ombudsman's jurisdiction
for Wales.
This unified approach is to be welcomed. A number
of complaints cut across several organisations and a "joined
up" approach to settling and determining complaints is therefore
sensible. Further thought will, however, need to be given to the
detail of the new arrangements in order to ensure that effective
procedural arrangements are put in place to deal with complaints
which cut across several organisations such as partnership issues.
ln terms of the detailed provisions of the Bill,
it appears that there are many similarities between the new Ombudsman
and the Commission for Local Administration in Wales in terms
of the way in which the new Ombudsman will undertake his role.
As such, there are no specific matters within the Bill which I
would wish to highlight on behalf of Newport City Council.
J G Ashurst
Head of Law and Standards
7 January 2005
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