Pre-appointment hearing with the Government's preferred candidate for the post of Housing Ombudsman - Communities and Local Government Committee Contents


1  Background to the hearing

1. Ahead of the previous Housing Ombudsman, Dr Mike Biles, retiring from his post on 3 November 2014 we wrote to Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 15 October requesting that the appointment of his successor be subject to a pre-appointment hearing. We pointed out that under the terms of the Housing Ombudsman scheme[1] the appointment would be made by him as Secretary of State. We already carry out pre-appointment hearings on the Local Government Ombudsman and on the Chair of the Regulation Committee of the Homes and Communities Agency. We also pointed out that the functions and operation of these posts are very similar to that of the Housing Ombudsman and therefore that the post should be subject to the pre-appointment process. On 11 November Mr Pickles responded[2] with support for our conducting a pre-appointment hearing and he said that he planned to make the appointment in December. He drew attention to the wider Ombudsman review and said that the skills required for the role and the terms and conditions of the appointment would reflect the potential for future changes to the scope of the Housing Ombudsman.

2. On 5 December the Government supplied us with a memorandum setting out the background to the post, the requirements of the post and details of the recruitment process, which is printed with this Report.[3] DCLG told us that the advertisement for the post was published on 29 October 2014 and that by the deadline of noon on 7 November six applications had been received. On 12 December the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) informed us that Denise Fowler had been identified as the Government's preferred candidate to take up the post of the Housing Ombudsman and supplied further documents; the candidate's curriculum vitae is printed with this Report.[4]

3. We accordingly invited Denise Fowler to attend a pre-appointment hearing on 16 December 2014.

4. In advance of the hearing, we invited members of the public to suggest priorities for the incoming Housing Ombudsman via Twitter: #NewHousingOmbuds.


1   Housing Ombudsman Service Scheme, February 2013, para 60 Back

2   Appendix 1 Back

3   Appendix 2 Back

4   Appendix 3 Back


 
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Prepared 18 December 2014