Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 93: 93: After Clause 134, insert the following new Clause— ““Concurrent jurisdiction of courts, tribunals and public sector ombudsmen (1) In section 5 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (c. 13), omit subsection (2). (2) In section 26 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (c. 57), omit subsection (6). (3) In section 4 of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (c. 46), omit subsection (1).”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I now find myself in the deeply uncomfortable position of speaking to the last amendment in a House that is largely occupied by people who are interested not in this debate, but in the next one. I can only say that I will keep my remarks to a minimum and, as far as I can with such notice, reduce what I have in front of me. I have endlessly declared my interest as chairman of the Council on Tribunals. In respect of this amendment, I should also make the point that the Parliamentary Ombudsman is an ex officio member of the council and would be an ex officio member of the proposed Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council. On the substance of the new clause, some of your Lordships may remember that as long ago as 1996, in his report on access to justice, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, recommended among other things that the relationship between ombudsmen and the courts should be broadened, enabling issues to be referred by ombudsmen to the courts and by courts to the ombudsmen with the consent of those involved. His report also recommended that the discretion of the public ombudsmen to investigate issues involving maladministration that could be raised before the courts should be extended. The noble and learned Lord is unable to be present today, but he has authorised me to say that he is supportive of what I am seeking to achieve, which also, I understand, has the support of the head of the administrative court, Mr Justice Collins. It certainly has the support of the Senior President of Tribunals designate, Lord Justice Carnwath. It also has the support of the Council on Tribunals, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Health Service Ombudsman, as well as my own personal support. The purpose of what I propose is to get rid of some of the impediments. They were originally intended to make sure that ombudsmen did not trespass on or usurp the jurisdiction of courts or tribunals, but, over time, developing case law has narrowed the discretion of the ombudsmen in a way that has been seen to present them with severe difficulties and has created considerable injustice for complainants. That is what I am seeking to redress. In putting forward this amendment, I am conscious that it could be argued that there are ways in which I might have gone further to facilitate co-ordination between the various strands. For example, it could be helpful to give the court specific power to suspend an investigation by the ombudsman where the court considers that it would not be in the interests of justice for it to continue; or, alternatively, to stay the court proceedings where the court considers that the ombudsman is better placed to investigate. I also believe that, where an investigation raises a question of law which needs to be determined, it would assist the ombudsman to have the power to ask for a ruling from the appropriate court or tribunal on that question. Although I have not sought to cover those last points, with the legal advice available to me, I hope that the Minister will take them into consideration if, as I hope, she feels able to accept my basic point in principle, and that she will take it away for the attention of the expert drafting advice available to her with a view to bringing forward an amendment at Third Reading. I beg, rather breathlessly, to move.