Introduction
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1. This report sets out the results of my investigation into a complaint by Mrs A, referred by Austin Mitchell MP, about the ex gratia compensation scheme for Icelandic water trawlermen which ran between October 2000 and October 2002.
2. The compensation scheme was devised by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and administered by the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS), a division of DTI located at Watford.
3. The report does not contain every detail investigated by my staff but I am satisfied that nothing of significance has been omitted.
4. Mrs A’s complaint, on behalf of her late husband, was one of a number of complaints about the same matters received by my Office. Given that these complaints related to the same scheme and to similar matters I decided to conduct one investigation into the administration of the scheme. This investigation – which used Mrs A as a representative complainant – covers all the complaints about these matters that I have received.
5. There are three annexes to this report. Annex A contains the eligibility criteria for the scheme and the procedure for making claims upon it. Annex B is a detailed chronology of the events leading to the creation of the scheme and which therefore provide the context for Mrs A’s complaint. Annex C is a brief outline of those complaints I have received that are similar to that of Mrs A.
