Sharing learning
Our work brings benefit to the wider public by informing public policy and driving improvements in public services.
Equitable Life saga comes to an end
In December 2010, our work on complaints from Equitable Life policy holders about the regulation of the company came to an end.
Soon after the General Election, the new Coalition Government announced its intention to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendation to make fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders, through an independent payment scheme, for their relative losses as a consequence of the regulatory failure identified in the Ombudsman’s July 2008 report.
This commitment was repeated in October by Mark Hoban, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, when he gave evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee. Later that month, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government announced that it would make £1.5 billion available to compensate Equitable Life policyholders and set out its decisions about who would be eligible for compensation.
These decisions were supported by Parliament and, in December, the Equitable Life (Payments) Act 2010 became law. In reply to a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Justice for Equitable Life Policy Holders, the Ombudsman wrote:
‘Whilst I recognise that some of the people who complained to me will be extremely disappointed by the Government’s decisions on affordability and eligibility, I cannot say that those decisions are incompatible with the recommendations in my report. As Parliament’s Ombudsman, it has been my task to report independently to Parliament on this matter, so that Parliament can be informed in the decisions it takes. Parliament has considered the issues raised in my report and the recommendations I made and has provided its response’.
On 30 June 2011 the compensation scheme made the first payments to those eligible to receive them.
Sharing best practice internationally
In August, the Ombudsman signed a Memorandum of Understanding between her Office and the Public Protector of South Africa. This new relationship provides a framework for the two Offices to co-operate and share best practice and experience. Later in the year, we welcomed five visitors from the Public Protector’s Office, who came to our Office to learn about how we respond to complaints, our communications, and our governance processes.
In 2010-11:
- we published two investigation reports to share our learning: one on the Pensions Regulator, the other on an investigation into the handling of personal data by HM Revenue & Customs, the Child Support Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions
- we visited 15 of the most complained about health trusts to talk directly with them about how to improve their complaint handling service
- 90 per cent of our regional conference delegates rated the event they attended as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’
- we welcomed visitors from around the world, including Ethiopia, Turkey and Japan, to share learning about our work.
