On 5 December 2016, the Cabinet Office published the draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill, setting out its proposals for bringing together the responsibilities of the current Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman to create a new organisation with strengthened governance and accountability for complaints about public services in England. The Bill has had a long gestation, … Continue reading
Note: This post was originally published by the Institute for Government on 25 June 2015 and is re-posted here with permission. By Jen Gold When budgets are tight, governments tend to treat experimentation and evaluation as something of a luxury. But it’s never been more important to establish what works and ensure that spending decisions … Continue reading
Parliament Queen’s Speech 2015 The Queen’s Speech contained a number of announcements with implications for administrative justice. The Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill will freeze a number of working-age benefits, tax credits and Child benefit, and reduce the level of the benefit cap. It will also put in place a new Youth Allowance for … Continue reading
Parliament The Public Accounts Select Committee has published a report on Inspection in Home Affairs and Justice. The Report warns that current arrangements for appointing Chief Inspectors and for setting their budgets potentially pose a significant threat to their independence. Another PASC Report, Investigating clinical incidents in the NHS, has recommended urgent and fundamental reform … Continue reading
By Richard Kirkham, University of Sheffield, and Brian Thompson, University of Liverpool Talk of reform and renewal of the public service ombudsman sector has a long history (eg see our work), but across the UK it would seem that we have at last reached a significant tipping point from which the British version could mature into … Continue reading