Juducial Reviews

Brenda Prentice made this Freedom of Information request to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

Please tell me how many Judicial Reviews have there been annually in the last 5 years.

How many have been successful?

How often does the PHOS ask for costs?

Yours faithfully,

Brenda Prentice

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

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Gasston Aimee, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mrs Prentice,

 

Your information request

 

Further to your email of 5 January 2013, I am writing with my response to
your information request.  You have asked how many judicial reviews have
been brought against PHSO decisions over the last five years and how many
were successful.  Please find this information in the table below.

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Calendar Year|Number of Judicial Review claims to| Outcomes |
| | challenge PHSO decision | |
|-------------+-----------------------------------+----------------------|
| | |4 not successful |
|2012 | 6 | |
| | |2 decisions awaited |
|-------------+-----------------------------------+----------------------|
| | |10 not successful |
|2011 | 11 | |
| | |1 hearing awaited |
|-------------+-----------------------------------+----------------------|
|2010 | 7 |7 not successful |
|-------------+-----------------------------------+----------------------|
|2009 | 11 |11 not successful |
|-------------+-----------------------------------+----------------------|
|2008 | 8 |8 not successful |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

You have also asked how often PHSO asks for costs to be paid.  A claim for
costs is made in every case where PHSO has an opportunity to do so before
the court makes its decision.  Some claims have been dismissed as entirely
without merit before PHSO has been served with the papers.

 

I hope that this information is helpful.

Yours sincerely,

 

Aimee Gasston

Freedom of Information/Data Protection Officer

 

Please contact the Freedom of Information / Data Protection team at:
[1][email address]  

 

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All email communications with PHSO pass through the Government Secure
Intranet, and may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for
legal purposes.
The MessageLabs Anti Virus Service is the first managed service to achieve
the CSIA Claims Tested Mark (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007), the UK
Government quality mark initiative for information security products and
services. For more information about this please visit www.cctmark.gov.uk

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Brenda Prentice

Dear Gasston Aimee,

Since your reply have there been any successful JR's or is it still the case that none have won?

Yours sincerely,

Brenda Prentice

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

PROTECT

By email
Mrs Brenda Prentice

8 August 2013

Dear Mrs Prentice

Your information request

Further to your email of 13 July 2013, I am writing in response to your information request.

You asked whether, further to your previous information request of 5 January 2013, there have been any successful judicial reviews of decisions made by PHSO. Since your last request, no judicial reviews have taken place. This is because there were no applications that were granted permission to proceed by the court.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Yours sincerely

Aimee Gasston
Freedom of Information/Data Protection Officer Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Please email the FOI/DP team at: [email address]

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Dear foiofficer,
Dear Ms Gasston,

Thank you for your response,

In your answer of the 28th January, you stated that in 2012, 2 decisions are awaited and in 2011, 1 hearing is awaited.

Question. 1. Have there been any outcomes from those cases?

It would seem that your suggestion to complainants who are not satisfied with Ombudsman's outcomes, that is, to go for a judicial review is not really an alternative that is reliable.

Question 2: If no JR will succeed why do you suggest that people should waste their money on this process, particularly as the Ombudsman will always ask for costs?

Yours sincerely,

Brenda Prentice

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Thank you for your e-mail to the Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman. This return e-mail shows that we have received your
correspondence.

show quoted sections

All email communications with PHSO pass through the Government Secure
Intranet, and may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for
legal purposes.
The MessageLabs Anti Virus Service is the first managed service to achieve
the CSIA Claims Tested Mark (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007), the UK
Government quality mark initiative for information security products and
services. For more information about this please visit www.cctmark.gov.uk

Dear foiofficer,
I am asking for an internal review about Judicial Review. If people are unhappy with the outcome of their contacts with PHOS, they are often advised to take a Judicial Review.

No Judicial Review has won so it is wrong to suggest this to dissatisfied complainants. It is expensive, they will not win and PHOS always asks for costs.

Question, when will this practise stop and a full investigation into people’s concerns take place. It is not good enough to tell people that a review will take place when all that is reviewed is the method used and not the decision itself.

Yours sincerely,

Brenda Prentice

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Thank you for your e-mail to the Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman. This return e-mail shows that we have received your
correspondence.

show quoted sections

All email communications with PHSO pass through the Government Secure
Intranet, and may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for
legal purposes.
The MessageLabs Anti Virus Service is the first managed service to achieve
the CSIA Claims Tested Mark (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007), the UK
Government quality mark initiative for information security products and
services. For more information about this please visit www.cctmark.gov.uk

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

PROTECT

Dear Mrs Prentice

I write in response to your emails of 8 and 9 August 2013.

The two decisions from 2012 applications were refused permission to proceed to judicial review.

The case that was outstanding from 2011 was dismissed by the judge at the hearing held in April 2013.

We advise people of their right to apply for judicial review because it is their legal right to challenge our decision in this way. Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body.

If you are unhappy with the process of judicial review, you may wish to make these points to the Ministry of Justice. Their contact details are available on their website at: www.justice.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Aimee Gasston
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Officer Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Please email the FOI/DP team at: [email address]

show quoted sections

foiofficer, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

PROTECT

Dear Mrs Prentice

I write in response to your emails of 8 and 9 August 2013.

The two decisions from 2012 applications were refused permission to proceed to judicial review.

The case that was outstanding from 2011 was dismissed by the judge at the hearing held in April 2013.

We advise people of their right to apply for judicial review because it is their legal right to challenge our decision in this way. Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body.

If you are unhappy with the process of judicial review, you may wish to make these points to the Ministry of Justice. Their contact details are available on their website at: www.justice.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Aimee Gasston
Freedom of Information / Data Protection Officer Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Please email the FOI/DP team at: [email address]

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Della left an annotation ()

I wonder why they didn't mention that only one case has ever been won against the Ombudsman at Judicial Review. The Balchin case in 1996. They have removed this information from their website now for some reason? You are quite right Brenda, it is inappropriate for phso to recommend judicial review when they know that it is (virtually) impossible to win.

D Rapp left an annotation ()

I have reason to believe that if asked the same question now they would give a different answer.

Brenda Prentice left an annotation ()

I couldn't possibly comment, (as it would be taken down).
I see my request to the LGO about their meeting on 13th May with the Health Committee in which it was said,'we always send up held reports to CQC' has been taken down in it's entirety. I simply flagged up that it doesn't always happen.

I have asked the Health Committee for their take on this situation.

Ombudsman's grip gets tighter!

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

It might be interesting to ask for the reasons that complainants lose almost every Judicial Review.

Because it seems that it is the legal side of case-handling carried out by the PHSO that is tested and judged, rather than the merit or veracity of the complainant's case.

And even if a complainant wins a JR the PHSO just has to 'redo' a decision, covering the legal points that it failed to adhere to...so the negative result of the complainant's case might be just the same.

Brenda Prentice left an annotation ()

I see your point. Perhaps the question should be asked?