Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) impartiality and (b) evidential handling procedures used by the communications ombudsman when determining complaints.

The Government has not undertaken any recent assessment of the Communications Ombudsman and has no plans to do so. It is Ofcom’s duty under the Communications Act 2003 to approve and review Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes for UK communication and postal services. One of the two schemes Ofcom currently approves is the Communications Ombudsman.

Ofcom undertook a formal review of the ADR schemes, concluding in July, and found both were working well for consumers. This review included research among consumers to understand their experience of using ADR. Ofcom’s full statement is available on its website.

Ofcom also monitors the schemes’ performance against a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and publish the results on its website quarterly.