Ombudsman Services Part 5: Saj'll Fix It? When?

To the Leader of the House of Commons / The Business Secretary / The Secretary of State Housing, Communities and Local Government and The Home Secretary:

Ombudsman Services Part 5: Saj'll Fix It? When? (5)

5) From, "No Such Thing As Society" to, "No Such Thing As Transparency Or Accountability."

Dear Mrs Leadsom, Mr Clark, Mr Brokenshire and Mr Javid,

The former cabinet secretary, Francis Maude, boldly announced that,

"We are at the beginning of a global movement towards transparency"

(Lancaster House, London, 15th June 2013) but didn't get around to replying to our emails to him which sought to highlight the Broken Solution on offer at Ombudsman Services.

There was no transparency on offer at the BIS / BEIS department either.

Mr Javid we tried asking you the following questions:

Q1. Mr Javid, Business Secretary, doesn't the fact that RICS Members' and (Un)Regulated Firms' fees pay for the scheme and that their Director of Professional Regulation sits on the Board, not create a conflict of interest?

 

Q2. Mr Javid, Business Secretary, when RICS Members' and (Un)Regulated Firms' fees pay for the salary of their ombudsman, there is a Memorandum of Understanding stating what is and isn't an effective resolution of disputes and The RICS Director of Professional Regulation sits on the Board, isn't it stretching the bounds of credibility to claim that the ombudsman is, "entirely independent?"

Q3. Mr Javid, Business Secretary, when the Director of Professional Regulation sits on the Board of Ombudsman Services and each year his Members and (Un)Regulated Firms send more and more of their dissatisfied clients to The RICS ombudsman, doesn't this just serve to confirm what the late Consumer Focus had said all along - that RICS inability to adequately regulate their Members and (Un)Regulated Firms has led to practices that do not work in the customer's interests - practices like handing their dissatisfied clients £100 for a wrecked dream?

Q4. Mr Javid, a private redress scheme that fails to answer complainants' questions is a failure and not fir for purpose. It came off any "gold standard" the minute it maladministered complaints and thereby eviscerated its "integrity" and authority to dispense "civil justice." Do you as Business Secretary still assure consumers that when they take their complaints to Ombudsman Services they will be investigated, "fairly" and "independently?"

Q5. Mr Javid, for clarity, should we now redirect our complaint about Ombudsman Services' maladministration of consumers' complaints and contempt for civil justice to HRH Prince Charles?

The global movement towards transparency has yet to arrive at Ombudsman Services. Still no Annual Report or explanation for the near 90% consumer dissatisfaction rate.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Gilbert - Workstock Number - 510458.

The Ombudsmans61ercent Campaign is at: www.blogger.com  and www.facebook.com Ombudsmans Sixtyone-percent.