REGULATORS AND OMBUDSMEN: ACCESS AND VISIBILITY
| Date | 01 March 1993 |
| Pages | 59-73 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb024794 |
| Published date | 01 March 1993 |
| Author | PHILIP GIDDINGS |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
REGULATORS AND OMBUDSMEN: ACCESS AND VISIBILITY
Received: 2nd July, 1993
DR
PHILIP
GIDDINGS
DR PHILIP
GIDDINGS
IS
A MEMBER OF THE CENTRE FOR
OMBUDSMAN STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
READING AND OF THAT UNIVERSITY'S
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS, WHERE HE
SPECIALISES IN PARLIAMENTARY STUDIES AND
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. HE GRATEFULLY
ACKNOWLEDGES THE ASSISTANCE OF ROY
GREGORY, VICTOR MOORE AND JANE
PEARSON, COLLEAGUES AT THE CENTRE, IN
THE PREPARATION OF THIS ARTICLE.
ABSTRACT
This
paper
examines
the
role
of regulators
and ombudsmen in dealing with com-
plaints in the light of
the
requirement
of
Britain's
'Citizen's
Charter'.
It
considers
in
particular the
arrangements
for ensuring
that potential complainants know of the
systems available
and
the
way
to
put
them
into
operation.
Both public and private
sector ombudsmen
are
reviewed
and
com-
parison is
made
with
systems
overseas.
It is
argued
that in the light of
those
compari-
sons
the
British complaints industry could
go much further
to
reach
out
to
citizens
and
customers
seeking
redress.
'When things go wrong, there
must be a swift and simple way of
putting them right. People must
know how to complain. They
must know to whom they should
complain. And they must have
confidence that their complaint
will be dealt with.'
Those words introduce the chapter
dealing with 'Complaints and Re-
dress'
in Britain's 'Citizen's Charter'.1
The chapter goes on to refer to the
importance of independent com-
plaints machinery and to outline a
scheme of lay adjudicators as a
simple 'first order' mechanism (of
which little has since been heard) for
resolving complaints. In the same
section the Charter reviews the role
of independent regulators in respect
of public utilities, stressing the
importance of their role to quality of
service as well as to price regulation.
The Charter announced the Govern-
ment's intention to legislate to
ensure that regulators would have
adequate powers in respect of
customer complaints, including
powers 'to require that the utilities
make customers aware of what
59
To continue reading
Request your trial