Power to the people

If implemented, the Law Commission’s new proposals to reform the public services ombudsmen make a significant contribution to access to justice. Their potential impact is to make the ombudsmen’s services a real alternative to judicial review for certain types of complaint and significantly improve access to the ombudsmen.

Representatives of the people

Ombudsmen are independent complaints investigators who investigate maladministration and where this is found and a complainant has been caused injustice, recommend a remedy to resolve the complaint. The service is usually free to use and remedies can include requiring an organisation to provide a service, pay compensation, change its policies and procedures and consider whether it also needs to provide recompense to others.

There are a range of public services ombudsmen and practices vary across the jurisdictions. The proposals, published in July, attempt to harmonise and modernise practice among all five public services ombudsmen in England and Wales. The proposals should be seen in the context of the Open