1. The consultation process
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1.1 On 14 June 2011, we published our Consultation on direct access to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, which posed three questions regarding stakeholders’ preferences for or against direct access to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The consultation closed on 5 September 2011, allowing for a consultation period of 12 weeks in line with best practice.
1.2 We sent a hard copy of the consultation document to 169 stakeholder organisations as well as all 648 sitting MPs. We also sent a letter with a link to our website to a further 92 stakeholder organisations. The consultation document was publicly available on our website in both .pdf and HTML formats (www.ombudsman.org.uk/directaccess) and was highlighted in trade publications. Hard copies and alternative hard copy formats, such as large print and DAISY, were available on request.
1.3 We also held a consultation event in June 2011 for advice and advocacy sector stakeholders, which consisted of a briefing session followed by a detailed discussion of the direct access proposal.
1.4 To maximise our accessibility, we facilitated stakeholders in responding by a variety of methods. We created a straightforward online form on our website, with drop down menus for simplicity and a free text box for additional comments. We also invited stakeholders to post hard copy responses, or email us directly at a specific consultation email address.
1.5 In total we received 113 responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including MPs, peers, other ombudsmen, academics and administrative justice experts, government agencies or bodies that fall within our jurisdiction, advice and advocacy sector bodies, and members of the public. A full list of those who responded can be found at Annex A. We received 23 responses in hard copy, 37 via our online form and 53 by email.
