Cecil Clothier - Ombudsman

Ombudsman

Clothier became the first Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman not to come from a civil service background when he was appointed in 1978. Clothier expressed himself to be happy with the Office that he inherited from Sir Idwal Pugh: 'coming to my task without previous close experience with the work of either Parliament or the Executive, I have been much impressed by both'. Clothier did not seek to alter the Office, but to develop it along the lines laid out by his predecessors. After a drop in the number of complaints received, the Office handled 1,031 in 1980, the fourth highest since the Office opened in 1967. Clothier continued the practice of arousing public awareness of the Office, eagerly accepting invitations to talk to groups in different parts of the country and determined that people should regard the Ombudsman as fundamental feature of the constitution. 'The last thing an Ombudsman wants to be' observed Clothier, 'is distant, cold and inaccessible'. Yet it was also important not to 'incite to grumble about nothing in particular'. In the first statutory extension of the Ombudsman's remit since 1967, the Office was permitted to investigate the actions of consular staff abroad in their duties towards United Kingdom citizens. Clothier also considered that in instances where it was questionable whether an investigation should be undertaken or not, that he would lean in favour of the complainant. Even so, if the complainant was unable to produce prima facie evidence of maladministration, Clothier was bound to reject the complaint.