Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2019-20

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 22 Sep 2020 Closed: 3 May 2021 Parliament page
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) is launching its annual scrutiny session into the work of the PHSO in the financial year 2019/20. According to the House of Commons Standing Order 146 , PACAC's role in relation to the PHSO is: to examine the reports of the Parliamentary … Read more
14 Recommendations
1 Report
1 Oral session
11 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 14 events
7 Sep
2021
Correspondence
7 Sep
2021
Correspondence
10 Jun
2021
Correspondence
8 Jun
2021
Correspondence
20 Apr
2021
Report published
2 Feb
2021
Correspondence
27 Jan
2021
Correspondence
26 Jan
2021
Correspondence
25 Jan
2021
Report published
16 Dec
2020
Correspondence
23 Nov
2020
Oral evidence
17 Nov
2020
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
23 Nov 2020
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Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scrutiny 2019-20
Amanda Amroliwala CBE · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens CBE · Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Seventh report - Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Scru… HC 843 25 Jan 2021 14 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
14 results
1 Recommendation Accepted
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The information provided in the PHSO’s annual report on the outcome of enquiries and complaints...
The information provided in the PHSO’s annual report on the outcome of enquiries and complaints should be made more transparent. The grouping of cases that “are not ready to be taken forward” and “should not be taken forward” should be … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to simplifying and streamlining the PHSO’s Annual Report to make performance data more transparent and easier to understand, stating that changes in this direction had already begun.
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2 Recommendation Rejected
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
In May 2020, the PHSO reported to the Committee that it had experienced an increase...
In May 2020, the PHSO reported to the Committee that it had experienced an increase of 13 per cent in demand compared to the previous financial year. Due to the introduction of a new digital casework management system, comparisons between … Read more
Government Response
The government rejected the recommendation, stating the information provided was correct, accurate, and already clarified to the committee, therefore no correction was needed.
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee welcomes the PHSO’s efforts to set stretching target section scores for its Service...
The Committee welcomes the PHSO’s efforts to set stretching target section scores for its Service Charter commitments, but continues to regard the relatively low scores against commitments 8, 11 and 13 as continuing priority areas for improvement and requests an … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to continuously improving the quality of PHSO's casework in the identified Service Charter areas and will provide an update to the Committee at the next scrutiny inquiry on how these improvements are progressing.
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4 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee appreciates that there is a risk that complainants could be overwhelmed with information...
The Committee appreciates that there is a risk that complainants could be overwhelmed with information if all the evidence the PHSO has collected is shared with them, but it remains the case that complainants need to be assured that all … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the value of sharing evidence schedules and already produces a full schedule of *material* evidence upon request. However, it deems scheduling *non-material* evidence disproportionate and does not commit to proactively sharing the schedule without a request.
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5 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The PHSO should report in its annual report and accounts the number of new enquiries...
The PHSO should report in its annual report and accounts the number of new enquiries and complaints that have been received in that financial year. This number is separate from the number of enquiries and complaints that the PHSO has … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's detailed recommendations for performance data in the Annual Report, committing to simplify and streamline it for greater transparency, but does not explicitly state it will report the number of new enquiries separately from handled complaints.
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6 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The PHSO should provide a breakdown of how long health cases that are over one...
The PHSO should provide a breakdown of how long health cases that are over one year old have been open for. This information should also be produced next to the general information the PHSO provides on the amount of time … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's detailed recommendations for performance data in the Annual Report, committing to simplify and streamline it for greater transparency, but does not explicitly state it will provide the specific breakdown of health cases requested.
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7 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The PHSO should report regularly in its annual report the number of cases in the...
The PHSO should report regularly in its annual report the number of cases in the queue for allocation to a caseworker and the average amount of time it took for cases to be allocated to a caseworker. This will be … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's detailed recommendations on performance data in the Annual Report, committing to simplify and streamline it for greater transparency, but does not explicitly state it will report the specific metrics requested.
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8 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
It is necessary for complaints to the PHSO to be time-limited, as there needs to...
It is necessary for complaints to the PHSO to be time-limited, as there needs to be some level of certainty about when matters that could potentially be complained about can no longer be taken forward. However, the Committee’s view is … Read more
Government Response
The government states it collects and provides data on cases not taken forward due to time limits, noting 969 such cases in 2019-20. However, it confirms it does not collect specific data on how often or why the Ombudsman’s discretion is used, but will publish updated information on handling out-of-time cases in a new service model policy.
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9 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee recommends that the PHSO should publish a target for responding to correspondence, and...
The Committee recommends that the PHSO should publish a target for responding to correspondence, and should track its performance against that standard and report to the Committee each year. (Paragraph 31) Value for Money
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's detailed recommendations for performance data in the Annual Report, committing to simplify and streamline it for greater transparency, but does not explicitly state it will publish a target for correspondence response or track performance against such a standard.
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10 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee believes that regular peer review studies will be an important source of assurance...
The Committee believes that regular peer review studies will be an important source of assurance of the effectiveness of the PHSO’s processes and in turn, its value for money. The Committee recommends that peer review should include specific assurance on … Read more
Government Response
The government welcomes the idea of peer review and will inform the appointed peer review chair of the committee's recommendations regarding the review's scope, including casework quality. However, they emphasize the need for flexibility and the independent chair's ultimate decision-making power on the report's structure.
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11 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
While peer review does require some degree of understanding of ombudsman services, fresh independent perspectives...
While peer review does require some degree of understanding of ombudsman services, fresh independent perspectives are valuable to avoid groupthink setting in. The Committee recommends that the next peer review should include in its panel an independent member, such as … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the value of an independent auditor on the peer review panel and has developed a list of validated panel members including auditors. They will notify the future peer review chair of this recommendation for consideration, while maintaining that the chair will ultimately decide the panel's composition.
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12 Recommendation Acknowledged
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee recommends that the value for money study should adopt the following broad structure...
The Committee recommends that the value for money study should adopt the following broad structure in its report: For each area examined, the report should first set out what is expects to see of a modern ombudsman organisation, it should … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's recommendation for a specific report structure for the value for money study and will inform the future peer review chair of these suggestions. However, it stresses the independent chair's ultimate authority over the report's final structure.
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13 Recommendation Deferred
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
The Committee reiterates its conclusion that legislative reform of the PHSO is required.
The Committee reiterates its conclusion that legislative reform of the PHSO is required. The PHSO’s legislation is out of date compared to modern Ombudsman standards. While the Committee appreciates the pressing priorities facing the Government, including covid-19, reform of the … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the importance of modernising Ombudsman standards but stated there are no plans to reform the system up to and including 2023-24 due to current pressures and the parliamentary timetable, committing only to consider future opportunities.
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14 Recommendation Accepted
Seventh report - Parliamentary and…
Routinely publishing the PHSO’s casework online, including levels of compliance with the PHSO’s recommendations will...
Routinely publishing the PHSO’s casework online, including levels of compliance with the PHSO’s recommendations will help to demonstrate the impact of the PHSO on other organisations. For recommendations that are of a more long-term nature, such as forming and implementing … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, committing to start publishing casework decisions online via a new digital system from April 2021, with future plans to also publish information regarding compliance with PHSO's recommendations.
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Government Response AI assessment · 14 of 14 classified
Accepted 3
Accepted in Part 3
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 1
Rejected 1
Total 14 recs
Correspondence 11 letters
7 Sep 2021 To committee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on the Venice Commission, dated 31.8.21
Parliament page
7 Sep 2021 From committee Letter to Rob Behrens CBE, Chair and Ombudsman, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on extension of term as Chair and Ombudsman of the PHSO, dated 22.7.21
Parliament page
10 Jun 2021 Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on an investigation into handling of Windrush man’s status, dated 8.6.21
Parliament page
8 Jun 2021 From committee Letter to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster on the Commissioner to the PHSO, dated 8.6.21
Parliament page
2 Feb 2021 To committee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on PHSO Annual Scrutiny 2019-20, dated 28.1.21
Parliament page
27 Jan 2021 From committee Letter to Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on PHSO Annual Scrutiny 2019-20, dated 26.1.21
Parliament page
26 Jan 2021 To committee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on PHSO Annual Scrutiny 2019-20, dated 25.1.21
Parliament page
16 Dec 2020 To committee Letter from Rob Behrens CBE, Ombudsman and Chair, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on follow-up evidence after 23.11 oral evidence session, dated 8.12.20
Parliament page
17 Nov 2020 To committee Letter from PHSO The Facts, dated 10.11.20
Parliament page
13 Oct 2020 To committee Letter to and response from Rob Behrens, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on PHSO scrutiny 2019-20, dated 12.10.20
Parliament page
29 Sep 2020 From committee Letter to the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer on PHSO Funding and the Comprehensive Spending Review 2020, dated 22.9.20
Parliament page