s175 PIHA

Waiting for an internal review by The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman of their handling of this request.

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Sir or Madam,

Under s175 of the Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 ('PIHA') the Local Commissioners are required to provide a statement of reasons if they do not produce a report.

It is now nearly two years after the PIHA became law.. and as yet the LGO's do not appear to have produced any statement of reasons.

In the CLAE's letter of 17 August 2009 the CLAE states:

'The Ombudsman's power to issue a statement of reasons on a complaint was brought in by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, which came into force on 1 April 2008. However, the Ombudsmen decided not to exercise that power from that date, and this new provision has yet to be implemented. So no statements of reasons have yet been produced; the information you request is not held.'

Please provide copies of all authorizations that the provisions of s175 should be ignored from the Local Commissioners and the Secretary of State and their Department.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Mr Carruthers

Our ref: CS/09/092

This is to acknowledge receipt of the request below.

Please note that, in accordance with Mr Karney's letter to you of 8
January 2009, I request that you give us your reasons for making this
request before we decide how to respond to it.

Yours sincerely

Rob Rundle

Publicity & Information Assistant

Local Government Ombudsman' office

Tel: 020 7217 4686
Website: [1]www.lgo.org.uk

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Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Foi Officer,

Internal review is requested.

I am not subject to Mr Karney's whims

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Carruthers

Our ref: CS/09/092

I attach a letter in response to this request.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | Local Government Ombudsman | DL: 020 7217 4734 | www.lgo.org.uk |

NOTICE - This message contains information intended only for the use of the addressee named above. If you have received this message in error please advise us at once and do not make any use of the information.

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Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

Wow, the LGO FOI officer admitting to supplying false information. No wonder they don't like responding to your FOI requests.

http://lgowatcher.blogspot.com/2009/10/l...

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Foi Officer,

There would be no need for s175 of the PIHA 2007 if that was the case. There appear to be serious defects with the CLAE publication scheme following consultation with Council's.

This is what it states in your annual letter to Manchester for 2009:

"The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 made provision for the LGO to
publish statements of reasons relating to the individual decisions of an Ombudsman following the
investigation of a complaint. The Ombudsmen are now consulting local government on their
proposal to use statements of reasons. The proposal is that these will comprise a short summary
(about one page of A4) of the complaint, the investigation, the findings and the recommended
remedy. The statement, naming the council but not the complainant, would usually be published on
our website.

We plan to consult local authorities on the detail of these statements with a view to implementing
them from October 2009."

It is now October 2009.

There is a need for internal review into both the publication scheme and the handling of this request. The public consultation with the Council's as you have already identified was secret.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS left an annotation ()

The issues are also being discussed here:

http://www.amv3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...

The CLAE are currently determining if they will make available their secret consultation with Council's on the issue.. that appears to have caused their change in mind.. despite it being clearly identified in the annual letters to all council's..

or if the CLAE want to expose every council in the country to an FOI request about their secret public consulation