PHSO and Ministerial inquiries

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman did not have the information requested.

phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

Recently Jeremy Hunt has ordered Bill Kirkup to carry out a ministerial inquiry into the death of Lizzie Dixon 15 years ago. PHSO will be part of that inquiry and will cooperate fully.

1) When was the last time PHSO were involved in a ministerial inquiry?

2) How many times in the history of PHSO has there been a ministerial inquiry?

3) What were the outcomes of any previous ministerial inquiries which involved PHSO?

Yours faithfully,

Della Reynolds

phsothefacts Pressure Group

informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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Carter Charlotte, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Dear Ms Reynolds

 

RE: Your information request – FDC- 274942

 

Thank you for your email dated 7 December 2017. I am writing to
acknowledge receipt of your request for information held by the
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

 

In accordance with the statutory timeframe set out in the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, a response will be sent to you by 9 January 2018.
This is 20 working days from the date of your initial request to us.

 

If you have any queries regarding your information request in the meantime
please do not hesitate to contact us at
[1][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email].

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

E: [2][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]

W: [3]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Reynolds,

 

Further to my previous email I am writing because there was a small error
in the reference number given for your information request. The correct
reference number is FDN -274942

 

Please accept my sincere apologies for the error.

 

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at
[1][email address]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

E: [2][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]

W: [3]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Reynolds

 

RE: Your information request – FDN-274942

 

I am writing in response to your email received 7 December 2017 in which
you have made a request for information held by the Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA). Your exact request was:

 

‘Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

 

Recently Jeremy Hunt has ordered Bill Kirkup to carry out a ministerial
inquiry into the death of Lizzie Dixon 15 years ago. PHSO will be part of
that inquiry and will cooperate fully.

 

1) When was the last time PHSO were involved in a ministerial inquiry?

 

2) How many times in the history of PHSO has there been a ministerial 
inquiry?

 

3) What were the outcomes of any previous ministerial inquiries which
involved PHSO?’

 

In line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I can confirm we partly
hold the information you have requested.

 

It would appear from the information in your email that you are referring
to an inquiry the Secretary of State announced in September 2015 and
appointed Professor Peter Hutton to lead the inquiry in March 2016. He was
subsequently replaced by Dr Bill Kirkup in February 2017. 

 

In response to your first question the PHSO does hold the information
asked for.

 

The Morecambe Bay Investigation which reported in March 2015  

 

In response to questions two and three the PHSO does not hold this
information.

 

For this information you would need to contact the Department of Health.

 

You can do this by going the below link which will take you to the
Department of Health website and their online information request form:

[1]https://contactus.dh.gov.uk/?openform

 

Alternatively you can also put your request in writing and send it to the
following address:

 

Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit
Department of Health 
Richmond House 
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS

I hope you have found this email helpful. If you believe I have made an
error in the way I have processed your information request, it is open to
you to request an internal review.  You can do this by sending an email to
[2][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]. You will need to specify what the
nature of the issue is and we can consider the matter further. Beyond
that, it is open to you to complain to the Information Commissioner’s
Office ([3]www.ico.org.uk).

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

E: [4][Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman request email]

W: [5]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

Follow us on

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Our Service Charter explains how we work
[9]Click here to find out more

 

Watch our short animation to find out how we deal with complaints

 

 

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phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear InformationRights,

Thank you. I can hardly find this response helpful when you have failed to answer any of the questions. Surely you should know if your organisation has been involved in a ministerial inquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Della Reynolds

phsothefacts Pressure Group

Informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's handling of my FOI request 'PHSO and Ministerial inquiries'.

I wish to request an internal review of this request as the more I think about it the more illogical it is that PHSO would have no record of involvement with a ministerial inquiry. If there have been no other inquiries then please be clear on this matter rather than say there is no record.

[A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

Yours faithfully,
Della Reynolds
phsothefacts Pressure Group

informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Reynolds,

 

Thank you for your email of 16^th December requesting an internal review
of our response dated 13^th December.

 

To clarify – are you requesting a review of parts 2 and 3 of our response
and that you require details of how many times the PHSO have been involved
in a Ministerial Inquiry and the outcomes of any inquiries that involved
the PHSO?

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom Of Information/Data Protection Team

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

W: [1]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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From: phsothefacts Pressure Group
[mailto:[FOI #451289 email]]
Sent: 16 December 2017 15:38
To: InformationRights
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - PHSO and
Ministerial inquiries

 

Dear Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman's handling of my FOI request 'PHSO and Ministerial
inquiries'.

I wish to request an internal review of this request as the more I think
about it the more illogical it is that PHSO would have no record of
involvement with a ministerial inquiry. If there have been no other
inquiries then please be clear on this matter rather than say there is no
record.

[A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

Yours faithfully,
Della Reynolds
phsothefacts Pressure Group

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phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear InformationRights,

yes please, questions 2 and 3. It seems inconceivable that PHSO would not have this information. In the Morecambe Bay inquiry, Bill Kirkup found there had been collusion between the midwives prior to the inquest which was in contrast to the findings in the PHSO report. What changes were made at PHSO following the Morecambe Bay inquiry findings?

Yours sincerely,
Della Reynolds

phsothefacts Pressure Group

Informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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InformationRights, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Reynolds,

 

Internal Review of a Freedom of Information Request (our ref: FDN-274942)

 

I have considered your previous correspondence including your request for
a review dated 16^th December 2017.

 

You requested

 

Recently Jeremy Hunt has ordered Bill Kirkup to carry out a ministerial
inquiry into the death of Lizzie Dixon 15 years ago. PHSO will be part of
that inquiry and will cooperate fully.

 

1) When was the last time PHSO were involved in a ministerial inquiry?

 

2) How many times in the history of PHSO has there been a ministerial
inquiry?

 

3) What were the outcomes of any previous ministerial inquiries which
involved PHSO?’

 

Our response

 

In line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I can confirm we partly
hold the information you have requested.

 

It would appear from the information in your email that you are referring
to an inquiry the Secretary of State announced in September 2015 and
appointed Professor Peter Hutton to lead the inquiry in March 2016. He was
subsequently replaced by Dr Bill Kirkup in February 2017.

 

In response to your first question the PHSO does hold the information
asked for.

 

The Morecambe Bay Investigation which reported in March 2015

 

In response to questions two and three the PHSO does not hold this
information.

 

For this information you would need to contact the Department of Health.

 

You can do this by going the below link which will take you to the
Department of Health website and their online information request form:

[1]https://contactus.dh.gov.uk/?openform

 

Alternatively you can also put your request in writing and send it to the
following address:

 

Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Unit
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS

 

 

Review request:

 

I wish to request an internal review of this request as the more I think
about it the more illogical it is that PHSO would have no record of
involvement with a ministerial inquiry. If there have been no other
inquiries then please be clear on this matter rather than say there is no
record.

 

 

Internal Review response

 

Timeliness of response:

 

Your request was received on 7^th December and a response to your request
was provided on 12^th January 2018. This was outside the time limit of
twenty working days stipulated by section 10(1) Freedom of Information Act
and you should have received a response on or before 9^th January 2018.

 

Information Provided

 

I’ve reconsidered your request and after making further enquiries I can
confirm that the information you have requested is not held therefore we
are unable to provide you with the number of Ministerial Inquiries in the
history of PHSO that we have been involved in. As we do not instigate
Ministerial Inquiries we may never have held details of outcomes of
previous Ministerial Inquiries.

 

Conclusion

 

We failed to in our obligation to provide you with a response within 20
working days stipulated by Section 10(1) Freedom of Information Act.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in you receiving a response from
the PHSO.

 

For the reasons set out above, I have concluded that we hold no further
information in relation to your request.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with our handling of your request, it is open
to you to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office
([2]www.ico.org.uk).

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Andrew Martin

Freedom Of Information/Data Protection Manager

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

W: [3]www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

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phsothefacts Pressure Group

Dear InformationRights,

It's difficult to know how to respond to these 'non-answers'. Without a hint of apology, PHSO confirms they have no record of ministerial inquiries they have been involved with. The obvious question is 'why not?' Ministerial inquiries are few and far between and must involve the analysis of very serious cases. Worthy of a note or two in the records surely if lessons are to be learnt and all that. But no. No record, no knowledge, nothing. I would say extraordinary but I'm getting used to the deaf/blind Ombudsman looking the other way.

Yours sincerely,
Della Reynolds
phsothefacts Pressure Group

Informationrights@ombudsman.org.uk, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman


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M Boyce left an annotation ()

Della Reynolds

The PHSO state:

'We only keep information about your complaint for 12 months.'

They don't hold the information you requested because they have deliberately destroyed it. You can't disclose that which you no longer have. It is a perfect way to evade accountability. It also begs the question: what about cases that take longer than a year to complete? Presumably the evidence is destroyed before the case is even completed. Job done!

phsothefacts Pressure Group left an annotation ()

It is my belief that there have been no other 'ministerial inquiries' which shows that the chance of using this method to hold PHSO to account is equivalent to winning the lottery. They don't hold the information because there isn't any.