LETTER

Dear editor

I am writing to raise serious concern at the appointment of James Gouldie KC to lead review into political bias at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in the wake of what is being characterised as the ‘f**k the Tories’ scandal.

As reported in the media, the KC selected to lead the review has himself historic Labour affiliations and is the spouse of a Labour peer. With no disrespect to Mr Gouldie, I regret that whatever his professional credentials, he cannot reasonably be perceived by the public to be independent and politically unbiased.

I whole-heartedly welcome the commissioning of a review into political bias at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales – it is exactly what is needed to rebuild public trust. But for it to be effective, it is essential that it is indeed independent and impartial.

Given the statutory purpose of the Ombudsman and the evidence of flagrant political bias, it is astonishing that anyone judged it appropriate to appoint someone with Labour connections to lead an ‘independent’ review. This fundamentally undermines the legitimacy of the office of Ombudsman.

But to whom can we turn? And if the Ombudsman can effectively mark her own homework by appointing her reviewer, what hope is there of remedy?

Would perhaps referral to Audit Wales for a performance review be an option to obtain a genuinely independent review?

Answers on a postcard to Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Bridgend, CF35 5LJ.

Tara-Jane Sutcliffe