The Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019 was a landmark piece of legislation, designed to strengthen and futureproof our office with a suite of new powers—powers unmatched by any other ombudsman in the UK, at that time. The reform was intended to make our office more proactive in identifying and investigating issues in public services, more impactful in shaping complaints handling across the Welsh public sector and more accessible to those who might struggle to make their voices heard.

The Act requires the Senedd to undertake a post-legislative review as soon as practicable after 21 May 2024 (that is, five years since the 2019 Act received Royal Assent). The Senedd’s Finance Committee launched the review in January this year.

Today, we publish our response to this review.

Our response draws on rich evidence to demonstrate the impact of our proactive powers to accept complaints other than in writing; undertake investigations on own initiative; and set complaints standards.

Despite some challenges, we are proud of how we have used these powers to date.

In our response, we present evidence of how our proactive powers have benefited service users, the Welsh public and service providers, alike. The 2019 Act has strengthened our ability to protect and promote fairness in public services. Supported by the proactive powers entrusted to us, our office remains at the forefront of best ombudsman practice in the UK and internationally.

We are also taking the opportunity to invite the Committee to consider some changes to our legislative framework, to enable us to better serve the people of Wales. These include:

  • removing the statutory bar which prevents us from considering a complaint when it could be considered by the courts
  • bringing into our jurisdiction complaints about schools and governing body decisions in Wales
  • streamlining the process required to launch a wider own initiative investigation
  • enabling us to issue sector-wide statutory recommendations, following a wider own initiative investigation.

We are looking forward to appearing before the Committee on 30 April to discuss our evidence.

Our submission on the Post-legislative review of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019