Appendix
A
Letter from the Clerk of the Committee to the
Cabinet Office
Proposal for the Regulatory Reform (Collaboration
etc. between Ombudsmen) Order 2007
Thank you for the presentation which you made today
with your colleagues on the subject of this RRO proposal.
The Committee considered the proposal and decided
to seek further information on it from you. The issues which concern
the Committee are set out below.
1. The Committee notes that the purpose of the proposed
Order is to permit the Parliamentary Commissioner, Local Commissioner
and Health Service Commissioner to conduct investigations jointly
where any one of them believes that a complaint falls within the
jurisdiction of more than one Ombudsman, and where the complainant
gives his permission for his complaint to be jointly investigated.
Q1 Please explain how the staff of the Ombudsmen
would be likely to conduct a joint enquiry and indicate whether
it is envisaged that the implementation of the proposed Order
would make it possible for a single officer of one of the Ombudsmen
to carry out the work relating to that complaint from the complaint
being assessed and the report being issued.
2. The Committee notes that a number of those responding
to the consultations on the proposed Order made the suggestion
that the Order should make provision to amend section 5(1) of
the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 so as to permit the public
access to the Commissioner's services without their complaint
first having been referred to her by a Member of Parliament, and
that this suggestion has also been made before by, among others,
Public Administration Select Committee.
Q2 Please explain why the Government has not
sought in this proposed Order to remove the 'MP Filter' in respect
of complaints made to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.
Q3 Please confirm that the answers to question
(b) on page 31 of your Explanatory Document have been presented
the wrong way round.
I would be grateful to receive your response to these
questions, together with any additional information which the
Department believes would be helpful to the Committee not later
than noon on 19 February 2007.
7 February 2007
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