Image Source: Senedd Research Service, Senedd Commission copyright
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Established in 20061, the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales acts as an independent “watchdog” for devolved public services.
Before this, separate ombudsmen covered the health service, local government, the Welsh Government/public administration and social housing. A law passed by the UK Parliament brought them together into a single role.
The Ombudsman has two broad roles:
- Undertake investigations, and handle complaints, relating to the quality of public services in Wales.
- Investigate complaints about councillors who are suspected of breaching their Code of Conduct2.
According to the Ombudsman, most of their casework load involves public service complaints, with only 10% relating to complaints about councillors.
In 2019, the Senedd3 increased the number of organisations which can be investigated by the Ombudsman.
The Senedd also gave the Ombudsman powers to launch investigations into public services even if a complaint wasn’t received – called an “own-initiative report”. As of May 2025, two own initiative reports have been undertaken into care assessments and homelessness services.
In 2022-23, the operating budget for the Ombudsman was just under £5.8million4.
Why do we need an Ombudsman?
If you complain about a public service and that complaint hasn’t been properly resolved (or raises a wider point about how a public service is being delivered), the ombudsman acts as a free-of-charge independent advocate.
This means people can get free support if they feel they haven’t been listened to. It keeps public bodies on their toes, with ombudsman investigations highlighting areas that need to be improved for everybody’s benefit. It also keeps serious complaints about service failures out of the court system – which takes longer to resolve and costs more.
There’s also the option of going to an elected representative (councillor, MS, MP) to take up your case, but their job is to find out why a problem has happened. If they can’t fix an issue, they’ll usually direct people to an ombudsman anyway.
Which organisations can be investigated by the Ombudsman?
A full list is available within the Public Services Ombudsman Act 20195.
- The Welsh Government (including certain committees and commissions such as the Local Democracy & Boundary Commission, Welsh Revenue Authority, Transport for Wales and planning inspectors).
- The Senedd Commission (the organisation which runs the Senedd).
- Local authorities (including town & community councils) and Corporate Joint Committees.
- Fire Authorities.
- Police & Crime Commissioners.
- Welsh Government environment agencies (Natural Resources Wales, National Park Authorities etc.).
- Inspectorates and professional agencies (Social Care Wales, Health Inspectorate Wales, Social Care Inspectorate Wales).
- NHS Wales (health boards, ambulance service, Citizens Voice Body, primary care).
- Independent care providers.
- Social landlords.
- Welsh Government education agencies (Qualifications Wales, Estyn, HEFCW) and school governing bodies.
- Welsh Government cultural agencies (Arts Council for Wales, Sport Wales, Welsh Language Commissioner).
In certain cases, the Ombudsman can only consider administrative complaints (i.e. concerning how complaints were handled) rather than operational complaints. Organisations covered by this include Police & Crime Commissioners and Transport for Wales.
There has been some discussion in the last few years as to whether the Ombudsman should continue to police the councillor’s code of conduct. This happened because of accusations of political bias by investigation officers in the Ombudsman’s office.
This led to a review6 which concluded that decisions were free of political bias.
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Public Services Ombudsman of Wales Act 2005.
Local Government Act 2000, Chapter 3, Sections 68-74.
Public Services Ombudsman Act 2019.
Public Services Ombudsman (July 2024). “Annual Report 2023-24” (p 98).
Public Services Ombudsman Act 2019, Schedule 3.
Independent review of investigations by the Public Services Ombudsman of Wales into Code of Conduct complaints (September 2024).
No AI tools were used to draft this post.
