The Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019 (the 2019 Act) required the Senedd to undertake a post-legislative review as soon as practicable after five years since the 2019 Act became law. The Senedd’s Finance Committee, as the Committee responsible for oversight of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW), carried out this review.
Ahead of the Senedd debate on the post-legislative review on 21 January 2026, we look at what has changed with the 2019 Act and some of the review findings.
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Act 2019
The role of the PSOW was established by the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005 It was specifically created to:
- look into complaints that something has gone wrong with Welsh public services (provided by bodies that fall under the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman);
- work with public bodies to improve public services and standards of conduct within local government across Wales; and
- investigate complaints that Welsh councillors have breached or failed to comply with a relevant Code of Conduct.
While the Fifth Senedd’s Finance Committee deemed that the PSOW’s role was working effectively and the 2005 Act was generally considered a model piece of ombudsman legislation, since 2013 there had been calls from the then Ombudsman to extend its powers.
The Act became law in May 2019 and, alongside restating the provisions in the 2005 Act, it set four key new powers for the Ombudsman to:
- accept complaints other than in writing (oral complaints);
- enable own initiative investigations;
- investigate the private health-related service element in a public/private health pathway; which refers to when patients receive treatment from both private and public (NHS) treatment providers; and
- undertake a role in relation to how complaints are handled by public services by supporting complaint handling through model procedures, training and collecting and publishing complaints data.
The ability to make oral complaints “is essential”
The 2005 Act required all complaints to the Ombudsman to be made or referred in writing. However, the Ombudsman did have a discretionary power to accept a complaint made in a form other than in writing, for example orally, on a case-by-case basis.
The 2019 Act meant the Ombudsman would no longer be required to use discretion but instead enabled them prescribe guidance on the ways in which complaints can be made, including orally. One of the reasons for this was to:
“… remove stigma and improve social justice; ensuring that all voices are heard, including those with issues around literacy, numeracy and the differing abilities to manage correspondence and administrative tasks.”
The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman called the power to accept oral complaints “essential” to the PSOW Act 2019. In addition, the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner for Ireland said that “in order to be accessible, it’s a very important facility” and added that without this route “maybe, many of those people would not have made complaints otherwise”.
The power to investigate the private health-related service element is yet to be tested
The 2019 Act gave the Ombudsman powers to investigate matters relating to the private health-related services of a complaint in a public/private health pathway.
However since 2019, this power is still yet to have been used by the Ombudsman, with no complaints reaching the threshold for investigation.
Several witnesses, including the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip noted the importance of keeping the power- while some stakeholders expressed concerns regarding the process for making investigations related to this.
However, as the power has yet to be tested in practice, the Finance Committee was not persuaded that changes to it were required.
Own-initiative investigations “are not being fully utilised”
The 2019 Act enables the PSOW to undertake own initiative (OI) investigations, whether or not a complaint has been received.
To date, the PSOW has completed two OI investigations and it recognised that the second OI investigation took “too long”. The PSOW said:
We’ve identified through a learning process on that how we can make those sort of investigations more tight and efficient in the future.
The PSOW noted that the current two-stage consultation process, required prior to undertaking an OI investigation, was “too long and cumbersome”. The Committee heard mixed evidence regarding the consultation process with some stakeholders saying it should be simplified and others emphasising its importance to procedural fairness.
The Finance Committee welcomed the ability for the PSOW to undertake own initiative investigations but noted concern that “these powers are not being fully utilised as intended and that the Ombudsman could make bolder use of this power”. The Committee recommended the PSOW consider streamlining the consultation process and reflecting on the approach of other ombudsman offices, with consideration on how OI investigations could be delivered in a more agile way.
The argument to widen the PSOW’s jurisdiction to include school complaints
The PSOW’s remit regarding school complaints is mainly limited to school admission, exclusion and appeal decisions. Whilst the Office of the Independent Adjudicator considers complaints about further and higher education in Wales, the PSOW noted that:
“… there is no equivalent access to an independent and impartial complaints handling body in relation to complaints about schools and governing body decisions in Wales.”
Widening to the full range of school complaints would mirror the powers of ombudsman in other jurisdictions.
The Cabinet Secretary said that while the Welsh Government could see benefits to widening the jurisdiction regarding schools, “considerable issues” would need to be taken into account and that “the Welsh Government would want to consider its position further if this was to be pursued”.
The Finance Committee recognised the benefits that widening the jurisdiction may bring but noted further work, including modelling the number of potential new complaints, was needed before it could come to a conclusive stance on the issue.
What’s next
The Finance Committee published a report on the review with 16 recommendations, which were welcomed by the PSOW. The Senedd will debate the post-legislative review on Wednesday 21 January 2026. You can watch the debate on Senedd.tv
Article by Božo Lugonja, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
