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The Parliamentary Ombudsman has cautioned government organisations against refusing to pay compensation when their mistakes have left individual members of the public footing the bill.

In a new report published today (16 October 2012), the Ombudsman looks at how the Planning Inspectorate had handled four individual complaints about errors it had made. In each case, the Planning Inspectorate had failed to compensate individuals or organisations for mistakes which had caused them to incur extra costs.

The Planning Inspectorate closed its ex gratia payment scheme in March 2011 as part of its plans to reduce spending, forcing people to escalate their complaints to the Ombudsman to seek compensation.

Dame Julie Mellor, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, commenting on the report said:

“Individuals must not bear the cost of government errors. The Planning Inspectorate’s decision not to compensate individuals who were left out of pocket because of the Inspectorate’s own mistakes was unfair, unjust and a false economy.

The most cost effective way to resolve complaints is to do so properly, and as early as possible. Plainly, that did not happen in these cases, which effectively meant these complaints were investigated twice, wasting money, time and resource.

I am pleased that, as a result of our investigations, the Planning Inspectorate has put things right for these four complainants, and 14 others, and has also introduced a new protocol for dealing with complaints. 

But, it goes far wider than that. There are simple but important lessons raised by these investigations to help make sure other government organisations do not repeat those mistakes. That means dealing with complaints effectively, and at the earliest stage, and making ex gratia payments when things go wrong, where appropriate.

We are here to help government organisations improve their complaints handling by sharing lessons learned from our casework. Our ‘Principles of Good Complaint Handling’, which the government has signed up to, sets out how organisations should act when things do go wrong.”

As a result of the Ombudsman’s investigations, the complainants received individual payments to put right the financial impact of the Planning Inspectorate’s failures as well as additional compensation in recognition of the inconvenience they had experienced.

Download the PDF version.

Notes to editor:

1. The Parliamentary Ombudsman is here to help anyone who is unhappy with the service they’ve received from a UK government department or another government organisation. Our service is free to use and open to everyone.
   
2. If someone is unhappy about the service they have received from a government department or another government organisation, they should first make their complaint to the department or body in question and give them the chance to respond. If they’re not happy with how their complaint is dealt with, they should come to us.
   
3. You can contact us for further information or advice by calling 0345 015 4033 or sending an email at phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk.
4. To contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Press Office please call 0300 061 4996/4272 or email press@ombudsman.org.uk.
5. The Ombudsman’s report is available to download today from our website