Sham Ombudsman to remain?

THE Canal & River Trust have announced that its sham Ombudsman is to remain in office, writes Allan Richards.

The news came in a disingenuous Press release which failed to name all eight members of a reconstituted Waterways Ombudsman Committee (New ‘Ombudsman' scheme?).

Press release

CaRT's press release last Friday reads:

‘The Waterways Ombudsman Committee, which oversees the operation of the Canal & River Trust's Waterways Ombudsman scheme, has been reconstituted and has appointed a new chair.

Steve Harriott, group chief executive of The Dispute Service, has been elected to the voluntary role from within the new committee and will replace the current chair, Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC, at the next meeting of the Ombudsman Committee on 8th April.

Steve is one of three independent voluntary members of the newly reconstituted Ombudsman Committee together with Kevin Fitzgerald, who has held senior positions in a number of regulatory and commercial organisations, and Jenny Murley, who is currently compliance & legal manager and company secretary to an FCA regulated organisation. The other members of the Committee are Canal & River Trust trustee, Tom Franklin, and the Trust's general counsel Jackie Lewis. Andrew Walker remains the Waterways Ombudsman.

The Waterways Ombudsman investigates complaints about the Canal & River Trust and its subsidiaries. The position is independent and impartial, and can make recommendations for action on complaints already considered under the Trust's own complaints procedure.

The main roles of the Ombudsman Committee are the appointment (or removal from office) of the Ombudsman; keeping the operation of the scheme under review, both to ensure that it meets its purposes and that it is adequately funded; to receive reports on the method and adequacy of publicising the scheme and to publish an annual report. Issues relating to the investigation or determination of complaints continue to be matters for the Ombudsman alone'.

Nine months

It is now nine months since it was revealed that the Waterways Ombudsman Scheme was not in operation under CaRT despite a resolution by its Board that it should continue. It is also nine months since narrowboatworld revealed that the current Waterways Ombudsman was not properly appointed according to the scheme's rules.

Finally, it is also nine months ago that CaRT agreed to reconstitute the Waterways Ombudsman Committee such that the scheme was once more in operation.

Is CaRT so incompetent that it takes nine months to make new appointments to a committee and arrange its first meeting?

Disingenuous

CaRT's Press release is disingenuous in several ways.

Firstly, it boldly announces that its sham Ombudsman, Andrew Walker, will remain in office. However, surely that is a matter for the new committee to decide as acknowledged later in the release.

Secondly, the Press release appears to have reduced the number of committee members from eight to five. Where are the three ‘user' appointments to the committee which give balance to the CaRT appointments. Why does the Press release not mention them? Is the intention to have the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted committee without them?

Third, is the question of Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC. Why is it that CaRT are trying to pretend that Steve Harriott is replacing Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC as chair of the committee?

It has already admitted that it does not hold any minutes of meetings under Sir Jeffrey's chairmanship since May 2011 despite having two appointees on the committee. That's no minutes for almost four years! It has also admitted that the last two annual reports have not been produced (as required by rule 16 of the scheme).

So why suggest that Steve Harriott is replacing Sir Jeffrey Jowell as chair rather than acknowledge that the committee was disbanded?

Gross maladministration

Some nine months after narrowboatworld exposed CaRT's sham Ombudsman scheme, the Trust still has difficulty in admitting that gross maladministration has occurred.