A healthy relationship between people and the state is vitally important for a thriving democracy. There needs to be a strong foundation of trust between them and a strong culture in public services to listen and learn. This is even more essential when something goes wrong.
Today marks a step forward in helping to build this greater trust when Parliament debates the Public Office (Accountability) Bill – or the “Hillsborough Law” - for the first time.
The Bill introduces some complex provisions that may sound jargonistic and remote to many people. However, these provisions serve a simple and hugely important purpose; to change the culture around how public institutions respond to failure and to promote openness and transparency when things go wrong, so that lessons are learned and public services improve.
I have only been Parliamentary Ombudsman for a few months. I took the role because I am committed to improving public services and I saw the potential for the Ombudsman to perform a greater role in that mission. The Bill is a positive step by the Government and it could fundamentally change the way that public bodies interact with those that they serve.
As Ombudsman, I believe this is an opportunity to embed candour, openness and honesty at the heart of public service – and we stand ready to play our part.
So what does the Bill seek to do?
At the heart of the Bill lies a simple but profound principle: a duty of candour.
It places a legal duty on public officials and authorities to act openly, honestly and in the public interest; something we at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) wholeheartedly welcome.
Initially, the duty will apply to statutory and non-statutory inquiries and to inquests. The Bill contains provisions to extend the duty to other investigations. The Government has signalled that it wants the duty of candour to be applied more widely. This is welcome as the principles behind the Duty of Candour can be strengthened even further if it is extended to some of our own investigations and I hope this is considered by Parliament as the Bill progresses.
A well-handled complaint is the perfect opportunity for government departments to demonstrate, in practice, the values underpinning the duty of candour.
Why candour matters
A statutory duty of candour is not just about compliance - it is about culture. It sets expectations for how public services operate; not hiding from mistakes, but owning up to them, learning from them and treating those affected with honesty and compassion.
We have seen too many times what happens when candour is absent. For example, in health, families have been left in the dark after avoidable tragedies. Patients have not been told the full truth about mistakes in their care. In our casework, we have found examples where parents were not informed of vital clinical decisions after the death of a child, and families discovering surgical errors months later through complaint responses. These are painful failings that erode trust in public services. A duty of candour is, fundamentally, about ensuring that such harm cannot be repeated and that truth cannot be buried by institutions seeking to protect themselves.
Learning from complaints
Candour is not only about responding to crises - it is about preventing them with everyday accountability.
Complaints can, and do, make a difference. Our ‘Spotlight on the Windrush Compensation Scheme’ last year showed how a single complaint can uncover and rectify issues that affect many people all over the country.
Following our recommendation, the Scheme changed its guidance to recognise that more people could qualify as a ‘close family member’ even if they were not living with their partner – for example, if that partner was in hospital or a nursing home.
More recently, another case has prompted the Home Office to review its decision to exclude private pension losses from claims. This change could mean people are more comprehensively compensated for the losses that they have suffered.
That is why improving government complaints processes is so vital. PHSO has developed Complaint Standards for both the NHS and government departments. These Standards focus on fairness, timeliness and learning. These now need to be consistently adopted across government departments. This legislation provides the incentive for them to do so.
If the new duty of candour is to mean something beyond inquiries and inquests, it must shape how the state responds when things go wrong. That requires effective oversight and accountability so Parliament must have a role.
As Parliamentary bodies, PHSO and the National Audit Office (NAO) both play an important role in supporting Parliament to hold government to account. Exceptional complaint handling and high-quality audit are integral to public service improvement, and I look forward to deepening our partnership with the NAO.
Questions the new duty raises
With new legislation comes new questions. The Bill requires every public authority to adopt a code of ethical conduct, but how will these codes be:
- Designed to reflect real-world challenges?
- Enforced consistently?
- Made meaningful to staff and the public alike?
For government complaints handling, this legislation may prove transformative. To people, complaints processes in government too often feel like a test of endurance rather than a path to resolution and improvement. Embedding candour in complaints processes could help rebalance that system, ensuring citizens are met with honesty rather than defensiveness.
The NHS version of the duty of candour shows both promise and pitfalls. A statutory duty of candour was introduced a decade ago, yet awareness remains low. Of more than 100,000 health complaints we received in recent years, fewer than 100 referenced the duty at all. The Government’s own review found that less than half of respondents thought the purpose of the statutory duty of candour was clear and well understood.
Legislation alone is not enough.
A statutory duty can be a powerful tool, but it cannot deliver cultural change on its own. Creating an open, transparent and learning culture in public bodies will require sustained investment in leadership that genuinely prioritises these values.
A key part of my role is to help the Government answer these questions and implement the culture change required.
Rising demand and future vision
Demand for our service is growing.
Complaints about health are rising sharply. Over the last ten years the number of health complaints we have received has almost doubled. Ombudsman schemes across the UK report the same pattern. More people are turning to them when they feel unheard by frontline services. There is an urgent need to improve public services and rebuild trust.
As Ombudsman, my vision is clear. I want to play my part in helping rebuild the faith in our public services so people know when things go wrong, which they do from time to time, the state will move to put things right.
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill is a landmark moment. But its success will not be measured by the clauses on the statute book. It will be measured by whether families, patients and citizens feel that when something goes wrong, the truth will be told, lessons will be learned and justice will be served. That is the culture of candour we must strive for - and PHSO stands ready to support.