Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the average length of time taken between recommendations for compensation being made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and payments being made to those affected..

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is a Crown servant that reports directly to Parliament. The Ombudsman is not accountable to the Government for its performance and sets its own standards for complaints handling and investigations. The Ombudsman is accountable to Parliament through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which holds an annual scrutiny session to evaluate its performance.