IF YOU have a complaint about the way a public body has dealt with you, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales is the place to turn.

The Ombudsman plays a vital role in ensuring that anyone who feels they have suffered injustice due to the actions of a public body or an independent care provider can have their complaint dealt with fairly and independently. After receiving a complaint, the Ombudsman can conduct an investigation and determine appropriate remedy.

The Ombudsman’s office was set up in 2005 by the National Assembly for Wales. A lot has changed in the last 10 years and more and more people are now lodging complaints. I want to ensure that we have an Ombudsman that is equipped with the necessary powers and resources to provide an effective service to the public, both now and in the future.

Nick Bennett, the current Ombudsman, has said that his office needs a number of additional powers to be able to continue to properly conduct investigations. As the Chair of the National Assembly’s finance committee, I oversaw the committee’s enquiry into his proposal. We heard a huge amount of evidence and published a report on our findings in May this year.

Currently, the Ombudsman can’t begin an investigation until his office receives a formal complaint from a member of the public. The committee decided that the Ombudsman should have the power to start his own inquiries without having received a complaint.

He should also be able to extend an investigation beyond the initial complaint when there is evidence that there could be a wider public interest issue. We heard from witnesses that this would help the Ombudsman look into something when he thinks there is a problem but hasn’t had a complaint, perhaps because someone is reluctant or scared to come forward.

The committee also heard that in cases where someone has received health care from a mixture of both the NHS and a private provider, the Ombudsman can’t fully investigate because he has no jurisdiction over the private sector. The committee believes that the Ombudsman should be able to investigate both the treatment given by the NHS and by private providers, when that treatment started in the NHS.

With an election in May 2016, there is no time for extra powers to be granted to the Ombudsman before the end of this Assembly term. So, the finance committee is going to prepare a new draft bill, which we will consult the public on.

We would all like to see a future in which public bodies in Wales provide a consistently excellent service. However, when something does go wrong and a service falls short of our expectations, it is important that we can have confidence that the Ombudsman has all the tools needed to put things right for those who need his help.