When we use public services, we expect to be treated with fairness and integrity. But when things go wrong, the consequences can be significant and have a widespread impact.
From Windrush to Grenfell and the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, we have seen devastating examples of public institutions failing the people they serve. What is often dismissed as an "unfortunate individual error" can actually be the first sign of a systemic issue. These warning signs need to be identified and acted upon earlier.
This is why the Ethics and Integrity Commission has decided that our first review will look at the public sector ombudsmen system. We want to see whether there is scope for ombudsman services to play an enhanced role in spotting systemic issues, and help drive speedier change. Our March 2025 report (as the Committee on Standards in Public Life) ‘Recognising and responding to early warning signs’ called on the public sector to get better at putting in place systems to identify institutional failings and to develop a culture where people are ready and willing to take action.
Ombudsman are independent of government. Their sole focus is to consider whether an individual has been failed. By investigating individual complaints, a public sector ombudsman can have a unique vantage point from which they can bring greater insight into where the system might be failing more widely; in short, an opportunity to see what might otherwise be missed.
Identifying gaps and addressing systemic weaknesses in standards is part of the EIC’s remit. Building on the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, we examine the structures, culture and processes that maintain and support high standards that can ultimately make a difference for the public. That is why we think this review is so important. There have been a number of concerning failings, some of which have resulted in lengthy inquiries where issues were known and should have been highlighted earlier.
In our March 2025 report we identified a number of common themes highlighted in recent inquiries as contributing to the failure of public sector organisations to identify the signs of a problem and take appropriate action – including an overly defensive culture, a failure to listen and act on concerns raised by employees or the public, and a failure to identify and share emerging themes that might have alerted the organisation to a developing risk. Anyone interested in knowing more should read page 12 of that report.
We now want to see if ombudsman services can also play a bigger part in detecting system failure, picking up themes they are seeing in complaints and using them to drive improvements for the public.
As part of this review, we will delve into what the public expects from a modern ombudsman, whether the ombudsman services have the right tools to investigate the institutional shortcomings and whether there are barriers to them doing so. We recognise that this is a complex landscape and so we will also be looking at whether there are ways to make it easier for citizens to navigate.
We will start the evidence-gathering phase with an open mind, seeking to understand what can help or hinder ombudsman services in their vital work.
We want to encourage those in the public sector – and members of the public – to take a look at the questions in our Call for Evidence and give us your views by the end of April 2026.
When we report to government next year, we want to make practical recommendations that are ready to implement – but, and most importantly – make a positive difference for the public.
Ewen Fergusson is the Ethics and Integrity Commission’s lead independent member for its review of ombudsman services