The Welsh Administration Ombudsman publishes her Annual Report
02 November 2004
Press release 08/04
Ann Abraham, the Welsh Administration Ombudsman, today published her Annual Report for 2003-04. It is her final report before handing over to her successor, Adam Peat, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, on Thursday, 4 November.
Complaints received
In the period covered by the report, (1 April 2003 to 30 September 2004), the Ombudsman received a total of 79 complaints and concluded 73 of them without investigation. She investigated six complaints against three different bodies - the Environment Agency, The Welsh Development Agency and the National Assembly for Wales.
National Assembly
Two of the complaints against the Assembly concerned their handling of appeals. In the first case (R.33/02-03) a man's complaint about delay in notifying him of the outcome of his appeal, and subsequent mishandling of his complaint, led the Assembly to agree to review their complaints procedure. The second case (R.55/02-03) concerned the way in which the Assembly had handled an appeal about building regulations. The Ombudsman found that poor procedures had caused the Assembly to assume, wrongly, that the appellant had seen some relevant papers. The Permanent Secretary agreed to improve the transparency of the appeal process.
In another investigation (R.49/02-03), the Ombudsman found that the Assembly had acted unreasonably and should not have tried to recover a grant to a farmer who was converting to organic farming methods. The Permanent Secretary accepted the Ombudsman's findings.
Welsh Development Agency
A complaint against the Welsh Development Agency (R.34/01-02) made by residents of a village who believed that they had been given misleading advice about the likelihood that their homes would be compulsorily purchases, was not fully upheld by the Ombudsman. She found that the misunderstanding had been caused by the Agency's inadequate communications but fell short of maladministration. She recommended that the Agency should make a payment of £100 per household to help offset any out of pocket expenses incurred in house-hunting. The chief executive also agreed to review the Agency's procedures for communicating with householders who might be faced with compulsory purchase orders.
Notes to editors
- Copies of the reports are available from the Ombudsman's office, 5th floor, Capital Tower, Greyfriars Street, Cardiff CF10 3AG.
- The Welsh Administration Ombudsman's Annual Report 2003-04 is available from The Stationery Office.
- On 10 September 2003 the appointment was announced of Adam Peat as Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. He will take over from Ann Abraham as Welsh Administration Ombudsman on 4 November 2004
- For more information, please contact the Press Office - tel. 0300 061 4996 - or the Cardiff Office enquiry line 0845 601 0987
