15. Written evidence from the Welsh
Consumer Council
SCRUTINY OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES OMBUDSMAN
(WALES) BILL
INTRODUCTION
My name is Viv Sugar; I am the Chair of the
Welsh Consumer Council and was appointed in April 2003. The Welsh
Consumer Council is the leading generalist consumer organisation
in Wales, established by the Government in 1975 to represent the
interests of domestic consumers of goods and services, but with
a particular emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable
customers. It is probably fair to say that we leave the territory
of goods more to our colleagues in the Consumers' Association
and Which magazine. We tend to concentrate on how groups
of people are affected as consumers, communities, and groups of
interest; and in particular research on public policy to look
at how consumers' rights are affected. We are funded by the DTI
and our main purpose is to promote action for furthering and safeguarding
the interests of consumers; to ensure that those who take decisions
which will affect the consumer can have a balanced and authoritative
view of the interests of consumers before them; and to insist
that the interests of all consumers, including people who are
inarticulate or disadvantaged, are taken into account. Obviously,
we are part of that network of the National Consumer Council,
the Scottish Consumer Council, but in Wales we lay a particular
emphasis on working within the international consumer movement
and the consumer rights as embraced by the United Nations in their
guidelines. Those rights are the right to satisfaction of basic
needs, the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right
to choose, the right to be heard, the right to redress, the right
to consumer education, and the right to a healthy environment.
Perhaps of those it is in a public services ombudsman context
today; it is the right to satisfaction of needs; the right to
be informed; the right to be heard, and the right to redress,
that are particularly relevant. When the original consultation
paper came out, we welcomed the proposals to bring together in
one office the work of the various ombudsmen and commissioners
in Wales. We believe that the Ombudsman system has provided an
important service for consumers, having an essential role in ensuring
that consumers do have redress, where redress is needed, and that
complaints are investigated professionally and resolved by whatever
means are appropriate. We stated then that we believed that people
in Wales are likely to be better served if a single ombudsman's
office was established, so we endorsed the argument for a service
that would be more flexible and more comprehensive in the way
that it dealt with complaints, supporting the idea of a joined-up
way of providing service, the idea of a one-stop shop for better
service. We also believed that that would give a higher public
profile, because I am sure this joint committee will be aware
that people's understanding and knowledge of ways of complaining
is not as widespread as we would like it to be. In our original
response to the consultation paper we also commented very favourably
on the idea of an advisory board to assist. If that is not to
be a statutory requirement, we would like to press for some mechanism
in order that users of public services and people with knowledge
of specific areas of public administration are regularly consulted
by the new ombudsman. Here we are, therefore, with the Bill, which
strengthens and widens the powers for resolving disputes, for
handling complaints in a rationalised and clarified way. We think
this is particularly important, as public services are moving
towards jointly provided services by different agencies working
together. The new single service should be a streamlined, efficient
and joined-up approach. We are particularly keen on the role that
the Welsh Ombudsman will have in issuing guidance on good practice.
GOOD PRACTICE
The Bill strengthens and widens the powers for
resolving disputes. Handling of complaints will be rationalised
bringing greater clarity and public understanding. This is particularly
important in the context of today's "joined-up" approach,
where different agencies work together in partnerships to jointly
provide services. We believe that the creation of a single service
will bring opportunities for streamlining and greater efficiency
in the way that people's complaints are handled. We also welcome
the emphasis on the Welsh Ombudsmen's role in promoting good practice
through the issuing of guidance and advice—encouraging public
sector agencies to say sorry and to learn lessons so that mistakes
are not repeated in the future. We are aware that the current
Ombudsman and Commissioner Services find a case to answer in only
a small minority of the referrals they deal with. There must,
therefore, be a lot of frustration and unhappiness in the cases
where no maladministration or fault is found but where citizens
have felt sufficiently aggrieved to pursue matters sometimes over
long period of time. Perhaps an early apology (without necessarily
admitting responsibility) or the use of a mediation service could
be considered as useful steps before a decision is made to approach
the Ombudsman.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Welsh Consumer Council is concerned that
the Welsh Ombudsman service should be accessible, regardless of
geography or disadvantage, and hopes that sufficient staff will
be employed so that people can be visited in their own localities
or special arrangements made for vulnerable people. There will
also need to be arrangements for non English speakers and those
who prefer to do business through the medium of Welsh or those
from black and ethnic minority communities. The service must be
visible, with publicity for the new role and a standardised process
for all complaints—the simpler and speedier the better!
It will also be important to train all advice agencies and public
officials in how to advise people who wish to pursue a complaint
to the Welsh Ombudsman.
FLEXIBILITIES
We welcome the new flexibilities in the Bill
which will allow the Ombudsman to carry on investigating complaints
affecting groups of people even if the lead complainant withdraws
[Clause 2 (7) and Clause 2 (4)] where the procedure for submission
of complaints may not have been technically fully compliant but
where the Ombudsman thinks it reasonable to proceed. Similarly
Clause 5(1)(b) which gives flexibility on time limits beyond the
normal one year.
BOUNDARIES
In cases which involve service failure/failure
to provide relevant service, the Welsh Ombudsman will need to
agree protocols with the Childrens' Commissioner, the Older Peoples'
Commissioner and his colleagues across the border in England.
There is a complex world of cross boundary service provision—between
health and social care agencies, between housing, care and voluntary
bodies, between social services and education, between England
and Wales—particularly in health treatment or other public
facilities which serve the population on both sides of Offa's
Dyke! Another crucial issue is to establish whether the proposals
in the Bill give the Ombudsman the powers he needs to question
clinical or professional judgement across all the disciplines
involved in joint care.
STANDARDS
The Welsh Ombudsman has an important role in
Standards in Public Life. Consumers and citizens have the right
to question the conduct of their representatives and the Ombudsman
has a role in investigating allegations that a Councillor has
failed to comply with the Code of Conduct of his/her authority
under the Local Government Act 2000. However there is still confusion
about what constitutes an interest and differences between the
codes that apply to different public bodies. We understand that
a review is under way and hope that there will be greater clarity
in the near future.
FUTURE RELATIONSHIPS
Others are calling for the Ombudsman to report
to Partnership Councils, the Welsh Local Government Association
Coordinating Committee, etc. The Welsh Consumer Council would
like to build on Mr Peat's practice in 2004 when he attended a
Consumer Forum we convened to brief all the different organisations
in Wales about his work and ideas about the future. A wide range
of organisations attended (energywatch, Postwatch, Citizens' Advice,
Trading Standards officers, etc) and we believe this could develop
into a useful opportunity to discuss with the Welsh Ombudsman
the experiences of the people we all represent.
In the absence of a formally constituted Advisory
Board we would like the Welsh Ombudsman to develop a consultation
strategy to ensure that his work and the way it develops is informed
by feedback from consumers and users.
CONCLUSION
The Welsh Consumer Council welcomes the Bill
and the proposals for a Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) subject
to the queries raised above and thanks the Joint Committee for
the invitation to give evidence.
Viv Sugar
Chair
24 January 2005
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