Rob Behrens approved as Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
19 January 2017
The Health and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committees publish their first joint report on the appointment of Rob Behrens as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
- Report: Appointment of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- Report: Appointment of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PDF 266 KB)
- Inquiry: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman pre-appointment hearing
- Health Committee
- Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Following a hearing before the Health and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committees, meeting jointly, the two Committees have endorsed the appointment of Rob Behrens as Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman assists Parliament to hold the executive to account by considering complaints that government departments, public bodies and the NHS in England, have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service.
Transition period
Mr Behrens will lead the PHSO through a transition period while Parliament considers the implementation of wide-ranging reforms to the Ombudsman service. These reforms, drawn together in the draft Public Service Ombudsman Bill, largely follow the recommendations made by PACAC's predecessor Committee, PASC, in its April 2014 Report 'Time for a People's Ombudsman Service.' This report recommended the creation of a single public service Ombudsman as well as wholesale reform and modernisation of the service to make it more open and accessible to the public and better able to inform learning for the services it investigates.
Committee endorsement
Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP, a member of PACAC who took the Chair for the evidence session, says:
"Rob Behrens has both the professional competences and personal independence necessary to fulfil this role. His in depth knowledge and understanding of the role of the Ombudsman and the experience he has acquired at the Office of the Independent Adjudicator in Higher Education will stand him in good stead in this new position."
Chair of the Health Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP says:
"We felt that Mr Behrens's professional background and skills will allow him to bring a deep understanding of the role of Ombudsman to the challenges he will face as the PHSO. We wish him every success as the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman."
Further information
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