You may not have noticed but the UK Parliament and the National Health Service has not had a permanent Ombudsman to handle complaints for more than a year.

Ever since for some unexplained reason the former PM Rishi Sunak blackballed the first choice, Nick Hardwick, a former chair of the Parole Board, for the job despite going through a thorough selection process, interfering with a body which is independent of government, it has been rudderless without a permanent boss. See my blog on this here.

To solve the problem the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s office appointed an interim candidate, Rebecca Hilsenraft, then chief executive, after a meteoric rise since joining the organisation from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who at least could adjudicate on complaints.

But they would have known then that her appointment would end on March 31st this year – a year after the last permanent Ombudsman, Sir Rob Behrens, retired. You would think that would have given them plenty of time to find a successor and go through a thorough selection process. But Oh no, by the time she reverted back to her old job, nobody had been appointed.

As a result the press office had to issue this statement:

“We are currently awaiting news on the appointment of a permanent Ombudsman.

“Our dedicated staff remain committed to delivering an important service for the public.

There may be a small number of cases we are unable to progress without an Ombudsman in post. Caseworkers will directly contact any complainants whose cases are affected.”

Checking their website yesterday there has not been one new press release nor any new decision of cases announced since April 1.

Then suddenly last week it was announced that the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee were to hold a pre appointment meeting this week for a new Ombudsman. Extraordinarily the name was kept secret from the public record until this Tuesday.

I gather it was at the request of the favoured candidate, Paula Sussex, because it appears she had not told told her present employer, she is chief executive of OneID, that she had clinched the job.

Now yesterday there was a hearing. The current chairman of the committee, Tory MP, Simon Hoare, recused himself from the hearing as he had sat on the selection board leaving Labour MP, Lauren Edwards, to take the chair.

It was a very underwhelming event both from the appearance of the favoured candidate and the MPs questioning. For a start four MPs did not attend and those who did were mostly newbies whom I thought had yet to get in their stride.

The candidate herself appeared to know little about the working of the PHSO system and even less about the NHS. She appeared to be a management and process person steeped in working for the private sector rather than a person concerned about policy. This was noticed when she was chief executive of the Charity Commission when a profile of her highlighted this. The article is here.

She was also wary of journalists. The same article noted: “she has declined to give interviews: she is said to be unused to dealing with the media, disconcerted by the amount of press attention the commission attracts and confirmed in her reluctance to speak by any coverage she perceives as negative.”

Considering she admitted during the hearing that the Parliamentary Ombudsman had too low a profile – it strikes me she is going to have to be more proactive with the media if she wants to change it.

Her previous jobs have involved her as a consultant on new technology, working at a top level at the transactional Students Loan Company and for private industry.

Her most recent role is as a non executive director with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority which will ” sadly”, as she said, to have to give up. Given her sparse knowledge of the workings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office I was rather surprised she did not mention that her fellow non executive director is none other than Sir Robert Behrens, the last Ombudsman, who could have given her great detail about its inner workings.

Also it is rather ironic that this body – which despite its name is a private contractor not a public body- is to face a recalled two day hearing next month of the Infected Blood Inquiry under Sir Brian Langstaff because of public dissatisfaction with its handling of compensation and a slew of other complaints. Jenni Richards KC , the inquiry’s counsel, has just published a huge list of issues. See here.

Given some of these issues will be the very bread and butter work that a Parliamentary Ombudsman and Health Service Ombudsman would have to handle, someone might ask why she presided in an organisation that now faces such searching questions for not doing its job. Of course its minutes aren’t published so we won’t know whether she raised such issues or went along with the management.

Altogether I am sceptical of whether there will be great change at the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office and I am afraid her attitude and the lax scrutiny by the one committee that can hold it to account will mean any great change.

The committee of course do not agree and think she is wonderful. This is their conclusion In a report published after the hearing.

“We are satisfied that Paula Sussex has the personal independence and professional skills necessary to fulfil the high profile, demanding and varied role of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Paula
Sussex is an excellent candidate with a track record of organisational transformation with a focus on improving the effectiveness and external reputations of the organisations she has led. Her professional
background and experience as Chief Executive will aid her in giving the PHSO direction and certainty. We wish her every success in this role.”

Some 114 people applied for the job at a salary of between £171,000 and £189,000 a year -42 per cent were women.