Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to say that, on Monday, 2 October, I formally laid the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill before the Assembly. This is the first time that a committee has introduced a Bill since the Assembly gained full primary law-making powers. The Bill represents a significant amount of work undertaken over a number of years and I would like to place on record my thanks to the fourth Assembly’s Finance Committee, chaired by Jocelyn Davies, for its commitment to developing the Bill.

The ombudsman’s role is currently governed by the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005. This Bill restates that Act, while also setting out a number of new powers, creating one piece of bilingual legislation that will form part of the Welsh statute book. The 2005 Act has facilitated public access to the ombudsman’s service. It has enabled the resolution of disputes and provided redress for individuals. In its focus on complaints handling in the public sector, the 2005 Act has also stimulated improvement in the delivery of public services. However, since the introduction of the 2005 Act, best practice and international standards for ombudsmen have moved on. Developments include the strengthening of powers of ombudsmen in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In the fourth Assembly, the Finance Committee undertook a public consultation to inform its inquiry into the proposals to extend the ombudsman’s powers. Following this inquiry, the committee drafted a Bill. In early October 2015, that committee consulted on the draft Bill. The responses were generally supportive of the provisions in the draft Bill. Since there was not sufficient time in the fourth Assembly to introduce a Bill, that Finance Committee recommended that the legislation be taken forward as soon as possible in the fifth Assembly.

The Finance Committee in this fifth Assembly has considered the draft Bill, seeking evidence from the ombudsman, as well as giving further consideration to the estimates of the costs and benefits of the Bill’s provisions. The Finance Committee, therefore, agreed to introduce the Bill to strengthen the role of the ombudsman and, in doing so, futureproof the legislation while making it citizen-centred.

I will now talk about these new provisions in this Bill. They will allow the ombudsman to accept oral complaints, which will therefore improve social justice and equal opportunities, and contribute to the Welsh Government’s commitment to create a fair and equitable Wales. We believe it will facilitate and improve the making of complaints by the most vulnerable and deprived members of society, such as people with learning difficulties, the homeless and the elderly. By removing the requirement to make a complaint in writing, the Bill will also futureproof access to the ombudsman’s services, allowing his office to develop guidance to respond to future developments, such as advances in technology—apps, smartphones et cetera.

The Bill will also include provision for the ombudsman to conduct own-initiative investigations. While requiring criteria specified on the face of the Bill to be satisfied prior to beginning an investigation, the power to conduct own-initiative investigations will provide a mechanism to protect the most vulnerable and give attention to the dignity of individuals. It also has wider benefits. It will enable the ombudsman to be more responsive to citizens since it allows him to investigate matters reported anonymously, strengthening the citizen’s voice.

The Bill allows the ombudsman to investigate matters relating to the private health services, which include medical treatment and nursing care—an element of a complaint in a public/private pathway. This will enable the ombudsman to explore the whole of a complaint, meaning that investigations can follow the citizen and not the sector. Currently, under the 2005 Act, the ombudsman has jurisdiction to investigate where the NHS commissions private medical treatment for patients, but not where such treatment is commissioned by patients themselves. Where patients commission private treatment, they currently have to make separate complaints for the public and private elements to the ombudsman and the private sector provider respectively. This is not satisfactory for the citizens in Wales.

For example, in giving evidence to the Finance Committee explaining these problems, the ombudsman noted a recent complaint. A member of the public had contacted his office in respect of the treatment provided to her late husband who had received treatment in the NHS, and who had then had private treatment before returning to the health service. The ombudsman noted that the individual had to wait five and a half years to get a response, which is clearly unacceptable.

The provisions of the Bill will also drive improvements in public services and in complaints handling. Currently, a model complaints policy is in place in Wales to help achieve consistency across public services. Evidence shows that, while the position is improving, adoption across the public sector is not consistent. We hope that the Bill will address this. The provisions in the Bill for complaints handling and procedures propose a similar approach for Wales as that in Scotland. This means that, for the first time, there will be regular, reliable and comparable data on complaints across the public sector. This, hopefully, will drive accountability and improvement in public services, transparency in reporting, and will empower the scrutiny process for which data and information are critical.

As a committee, we believe it is more important than ever that public services should deliver for the people of Wales and that the public services ombudsman is empowered to ensure that our services are citizen centred. The public needs to have confidence in the ombudsman to investigate where they believe they have suffered injustice or hardship or some transgression through maladministration, or in the way that services are delivered, and we believe that this Bill will go some way to achieving this. It is for these reasons that, in the opinion of the Finance Committee, the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill is necessary, and therefore, on behalf of the committee, I commend the Bill to the Assembly.