BackA report from the National Assembly for Wales’ Finance Committee has recommended a new law should be introduced to strengthen the powers of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
In January 2015, the Assembly’s Finance Committee agreed to conduct an inquiry to consider extending the powers of the Ombudsman. The outcome of that inquiry led to a Draft Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill being produced. This was consulted on and the Committee has recently published its consultation report.
The report makes 18 recommendations to extend the powers of the Ombudsman including:
- the power to initiate own investigations
- full discretion for the Ombudsman to decide how to accept complaints (including oral complaints)
- a statutory complaints handling role for the Ombudsman; and
- widening the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to include private healthcare providers where treatment was initiated in the NHS.
Nick Bennett, Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, said: “This is a real opportunity for the Fifth Assembly to hit the ground running with concrete proposals to improve public services in Wales and empower the citizen. “
Source: National Assembly for Wales
