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.. between the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and Department of Health
1. Purpose
2. Effective date and arrangements for review
3. Statutory framework
4. Status of PHSO
5. Role and purpose
6. Responsibilities of PHSO to Parliament
7. Public accountability of PHSO
8. The Ombudsman and the Cabinet Office
9. The Ombudsman and the Treasury
10. The Ombudsman and the Department of Health
11. Complaints about the Ombudsman
The purpose of this document is twofold:
- to set out the responsibilities of the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the Department of Health in providing the necessary resources and support to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England (known as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)) to ensure the effective operation of her office in accordance with the intentions of Parliament;
- to set out the responsibilities of the PHSO in demonstrating proper accountability for the public monies provided to her.
The effective date of this document is 1 March 2007. It will be reviewed at two-year intervals thereafter. The Cabinet Office will co-ordinate reviews, taking the lead in discussions with the PHSO, and liaising with the other Departments as necessary.
The relevant statutory provisions governing the work of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman are as follows:
- The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967
- Health Service Commissioners Act 1993
The Ombudsman’s jurisdiction is amended and/or updated by way of Orders in Council or by other legislative means.
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The Ombudsman is a Crown servant, appointed by Her Majesty by Letters Patent on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. She holds office during good behaviour, and may only be removed if incapacitated, or following a resolution of both Houses of Parliament.
The role of PHSO is to provide a service to the public by undertaking independent investigations into complaints about government departments, a range of other public bodies in the UK, and the National Health Service in England.
PHSO aims to:
- make its services available to all who need it;
- operate open, transparent, fair, customer-focused processes;
- understand complaints and investigate them thoroughly, quickly and impartially and secure appropriate outcomes;
- and share learning to promote improvement in public services.
The Ombudsman has the following responsibilities to Parliament:
- To report annually to Parliament on the general discharge of her functions, on the standards of service provided to complainants, and the use of public money.
- To draw Parliament’s attention to examples of injustice:
- where no remedy, or insufficient remedy, for the injustice is proposed by government or the NHS; and/or
- where the individual case (or cases) raise wider systemic issues.
- To contribute to Parliament’s deliberations on matters related to public administration by feeding back lessons learned from casework into those deliberations and by drawing themes identified within complaints to the attention of policy makers and legislators.
- To engage in constructive dialogue on these matters with the Public Administration Select Committee, which Parliament has chosen (through its Standing Orders) to be its principal liaison mechanism with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman appears before the Committee at least annually to give evidence on the work of her office.
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In addition to its responsibilities to Parliament, PHSO is committed to openness and transparency in its operations and its use of public money. The Ombudsman will publish an Annual Report and Summary Financial Statement and PHSO’s audited accounts will be publicly available as well as being laid before Parliament. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, PHSO operates a Publication Scheme which has been approved by the Information Commissioner.
Policy and liaison
The Cabinet Office has an overarching policy responsibility across government in relation to Ombudsman issues in general and a specific ‘sponsorship’ role for PHSO. It acts as the Ombudsman’s principal point of contact with government. It also acts as the principal liaison point with the Public Administration Select Committee on Ombudsman matters.
The Cabinet Office has the following specific policy and liaison responsibilities:
- Managing the process for the selection and appointment of the Ombudsman.
- Providing guidance to government departments on working with the Ombudsman.
- Providing guidance to departments on setting up new Ombudsman schemes.
- Maintaining an overview of developments in government departments with implications for the PHSO. The Cabinet Office will ensure that the Ombudsman is consulted in good time by the relevant department on any aspects of policy development that impact on the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction or powers.
- Keeping under review the statutory provisions that govern the work of PHSO, ensuring that they are correct, comprehensive and fit for purpose. Specifically, ensuring that the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction is kept up to date by way of Orders in Council as required. As a minimum the Cabinet Office aims to take forward an Order in Council once every twelve months.
- Maintaining a central list of departmental contacts tasked with ensuring that the Ombudsman receives prompt and comprehensive responses to requests for information and documents.
- Maintaining regular liaison arrangements with the Ombudsman. The Cabinet Office and the Ombudsman have agreed that, as a minimum, they will meet once every two months. The Cabinet Office will also liaise with the Permanent Secretary Ombudsman Champion.
Staff
The administrative provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 enable the Ombudsman to appoint such officers as she may determine ‘with the approval of the Treasury as to numbers and conditions of service’. As a consequence of the Transfer of Functions (Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service) Order 1995, this responsibility has been transferred from the Treasury to the Cabinet Office.
PHSO staff are Crown servants. They are not, however, members of the Home Civil Service. They do not, therefore, come within the jurisdiction of the Civil Service Commissioners and are not subject to any other requirements laid down for Home civil servants in respect of appointment, terms and conditions, remuneration etc.
The Ombudsman is responsible for:
- putting in place appropriate terms and conditions of employment and pay and reward structures which meet PHSO’s business needs;
- appointing a Pay Committee with independent members to provide advice and assurance on pay systems generally, and for approving pay awards;
- negotiating pay awards and other changes in terms and conditions of employment with the recognised trade unions,ensuring that full account is taken of the need for broad comparability with the Civil Service.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for:
- ensuring that appropriate delegated arrangements are in place and appropriately maintained.
Complaints to the Ombudsman
The Cabinet Office is responsible for maintaining an appropriate separation between casework and ‘sponsorship’ activities when complaints of maladministration by the Cabinet Office are made to PHSO.
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Under the administrative provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 and the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 the expenses of the Ombudsman, to such amount as may be sanctioned by the Treasury, shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
The Ombudsman and the Treasury have agreed their respective responsibilities in relation to these administrative provisions in the following areas:
- Funding
- Expenditure
- Accounting and reporting
They have also agreed to maintain regular contact, meeting as often as is required to discuss the effective delivery of their respective responsibilities.
Funding
PHSO is funded, in accordance with legislation, directly from moneys provided by Parliament.
The Ombudsman is responsible for:
- providing Treasury with a 3 Year Funding Settlement Submission as required;
- providing Treasury with a Main Estimate of resources, capital and cash requirements, including pay, for the following financial year in accordance with the published timetable;
- ensuring that such Estimates are scrutinised and approved by the Executive Board with due regard to the need for economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the request for and use of resources; and, for pay, ensuring that full account is taken of the need for broad comparability with the Civil Service.
The Treasury is responsible for:
- examining the 3 Year Funding Settlement Submission;
- examining the Estimates and clarifying any issues with PHSO as appropriate; and, on the pay element, confirming that this has taken full account of the need for broad comparability with the Civil Service;
- sanctioning the 3 Year Funding Settlement and Estimates and making recommendations to Ministers, with due regard to the special position of the Ombudsman and independence of PHSO from government, and the need to ensure that decisions on funding do not prevent PHSO from performing its functions;
- confirming to the Ombudsman the Chief Secretary’s approval of Estimates, in accordance with the published timetable;
- laying the Estimates before Parliament for its approval and provision.
Expenditure
Expenditure of the resources provided by Parliament will be a matter for the Ombudsman, subject to the normal requirements of propriety, regularity, audit and achievement of value for money.
The Ombudsman is responsible for:
- providing returns to the Treasury as required on actual and forecast resources and cash expenditure during the course of the year;
- ensuring that expenditure remains within the resources provided by Parliament each year;
- notifying the Treasury if a Winter or Spring Supplementary Estimate will be required (from End of Year Flexibility or otherwise from the Reserve).
The Treasury is responsible for:
- maintaining appropriate and regular communication and advice to PHSO at appropriate levels on expenditure matters;
- ensuring that requests for Supplementary Estimates are put before Parliament for consideration and approval.
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Accounting and reporting
The Ombudsman and PHSO are not subject to the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, which only applies to government departments. Hence the Treasury has no statutory locus to appoint the Ombudsman as Accounting Officer; nor is it able to issue directions to the Ombudsman on the production or laying of accounts, or on any other matters covered by the Act.
However, in order to recognise the Ombudsman’s responsibility properly to account for the resources allocated to her, the Treasury and the Ombudsman have agreed administratively that the appointment as Ombudsman brings with it the duties of Accounting Officer as laid down in Government Accounting.
The Ombudsman is responsible for:
- regularity and propriety; keeping of proper accounts; prudent and economical administration; avoidance of waste and extravagance; and efficient and effective use of resources;
- establishing an independently chaired Audit Committee to support the Ombudsman, as Accounting Officer, in ensuring the effectiveness of internal control systems and risk management arrangements;
- ensuring that all of the office’s systems and controls are subject to a comprehensive programme of internal audit;
- producing annual Resource Accounts which conform to the standards set out in the Resource Accounting Manual;
- subjecting the Resource Accounts to audit and certification by the National Audit Office;
- laying and publishing Accounts before Parliament using the Ombudsman’s powers to lay special reports.
The Treasury is responsible for:
- ensuring that the special position and independence of PHSO is recognised, respected and understood throughout the Treasury.
Complaints to the Ombudsman
The Treasury is responsible for maintaining an appropriate separation between casework and ‘sponsorship’ activities when complaints of maladministration by the Treasury are made to PHSO.
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The Department of Health has responsibility for liaison with the Ombudsman in relation to her role as Health Service Commissioner for England (HSCE).
It has the following specific responsibilities:
- In conjunction with the Cabinet Office, keeping under review the statutory provisions that govern the work of HSCE, ensuring that they are correct, comprehensive and fit for purpose. Specifically, liaising with the Cabinet Office to ensure that the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction is kept up to date by way of Orders in Council as required.
- Maintaining an overview of departmental developments with implications for HSCE. The Department will ensure that HSCE is consulted in good time on any aspect of policy development or operational changes that impact on HSCE’s jurisdiction or powers.
- Maintaining regular liaison arrangements with HSCE. The Department and HSCE have agreed that, as a minimum, they will meet quarterly.
- Maintaining an appropriate separation between casework and ‘sponsorship’ activities when complaints of maladministration by the Department of Health are made to PHSO.
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The Ombudsman maintains a complaints procedure which gives guidance on how to complain to her if complainants are dissatisfied with the service provided by her office. The Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the Department of Health have no locus in such complaints which are matters for the Ombudsman herself, and ultimately for the courts and/or Parliament as appropriate.
1 March 2007
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