Public Sector Ombudsmen in Wales

A consultation on the future of public sector Ombudsman services in Wales began in November last year when the Secretary of State for Wales and the Assembly Government published “Ombudsmen’s Services In Wales:  Time for change?” . That document invited views on a proposal to bring together the separate Offices of Welsh Administration Ombudsman, Health Service Commission Wales and the Commission for Local Administration in Wales to create a unified Ombudsman’s jurisdiction for Wales, led by a single individual. We undertook to consult further on the precise remit of the new office if the principle of a single jurisdiction was endorsed.

I am pleased to announce that responses to the consultation have given the proposal for a single Ombudsman’s jurisdiction in Wales almost unanimous support. Individual copies and a summary of the responses will be placed in the Library.   We will therefore move later this year to a further round of consultation on the jurisdiction and powers of this new Office.

The establishment of any new Ombudsman service in Wales along these lines will require primary legislation. The Cabinet’s proposals for future primary legislation, which will be debated in the Assembly on 12 March, include a proposal for a Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill, and if that proposal is endorsed I will be pursuing it with the Secretary of State.

By coincidence, the three existing Ombudsmen’s offices will all fall vacant later this year. At present statute precludes one person from holding all three offices simultaneously, but we are proposing that a Regulatory Reform Order is made by Parliament to remove that restriction. If that can be achieved, the intention would be to appoint one person to fill all three posts. The appointee would be expected to undertake the necessary planning for creation of the new single jurisdiction, so that if Parliamentary time can be found for the Bill we propose, establishment of the new office can proceed with minimal disruption.