The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman with Adam Wagner and The Ombudsmans61percent Campaign (2)

The Rev Lewis Shand Smith CEO/Chief Ombudsman claimed that his Ombudsman Services:Property scheme was "a superb model of ADR." However, it didn't have a Whistleblowing Policy thereby denying its workforce the human right to freedom of expression. What are your views on this? The Rev Lewis Shand Smith was also Chair of the Ombudsman Association. The Ombudsman Association's Rules for Membership stipulated that members MUST have a Whistleblowing Policy. But Ombudsman Services DIDN'T have such a policy. How do you account for that? We tried asking. But. DJS Research conducted independent CSRs for The Rev Lewis Shand's Ombudsman Services. The OFT required it. DJS reported that the property ombudsman "arrived at decisions in an illogical manner." How does that impact on the human rights of complainants? What are your views? The Rev Lewis Shand Smith led consumers to believe we now lived in "The Golden Age of Ombudsmen." He could certainly blow his trumpet. But doesn't the failure of his ombudsman to arrive at decisions logically or his firm to have a Whistleblowing Policy tarnish The Golden Age? We contacted DS Research to check the facts. Yes the property ombudsman did not appear to arrive at decisions logically and no she didn't appear to be impartial. Aren't those partial and illogical decisions by the OS:P ombudsman unsafe? Complainants' cases must be reinvestigated. When according to DJS Research, the Ombudsman Services:Property ombudsman, Gillian Fleming, arrived at her decisions in an illogical manner, weren't the human rights of each and every complainant eviscerated? Isn't this Mr Bates vs The Post Office all over again? If not why not? We tried to complain to the Chair of Ombudsman Services Prof Dame Janet Finch. As a sociologist we thought she would be as horrified as we were about her organisation's performance She merely passed our complaint to The Rev Lewis Shand Smith who duly passed it to Gillian Fleming. We tried to complain to the Ombudsman Association. Formerly the BIOA. But the Secretary - who was too busy reconfirming Members' memberships - to sign his or hers name - was unable to help us. Shouldn't it be a requirement of ALL ombuds schemes to have a Whistleblowing Policy? We tried to complain to the OFT - the govt organisation that had approved the Ombudsman Services:Property scheme on behalf of the British taxpayer but after months of delay and of being sent around the houses were told it wouldn't be a prudent use of taxpayers' money to do so. We then tried complaining to the PHSO and were asked to send more details. So we did. And were quickly locked out on a technicality. It seems that as long as the OS:Property ombudsman was NOT being illogical about complaints about estate agents all was fine in ombudsworld. From: Mr Bates vs The Post Office To: Complainants vs The Ombudsmachine. The Ombudsmachine sucks in an endless supply of complainants stamps them with a number - ours is 510458 - processes them and then deposits them on the human tip. Where are our human rights in all of this? In: Mr Bates vs The Post Office a key advocate for the sub-postmasters was James Arbuthnot MP. They also had a union. We believe 2000-4000 property complainants have been robbed of justice. Our MP Luke Pollard wants us to "pitch our story." Isn't injustice story enough? One of the biggest failings of British democracy is when an individual brings an injustice to the attention of someone in a position of power and/or authority and that individual does nothing about it. The forgotten 2-4000 victims of OS ombudsinjustice still wait for that help.