The Pensions Ombudsman is the official

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

institution responsible for investigating complaints regarding

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The Pensions Ombudsman is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

stewarded by the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

, and the Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman are appointed by the

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and P ...

. The Ombudsman is an independent commissioner; he and his staff are not civil servants. His brief is to resolve disputes of fact or law and to investigate claims of

maladministration Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration. The definition of maladministration is wide and can include: *Del ...

. Unusually for UK Ombudsmen, the Pensions Ombudsman's determinations are binding on the parties and enforceable in the County Court. There is a right of appeal to the High Court on a point of law (

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

in Scotland and

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

in Northern Ireland). In England the High Court's permission has to be obtained for an appeal. Although the first UK Ombudsman, the

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

, was established in 1967, followed by the Insurance Ombudsman and other private sector Ombudsman schemes, the first time the title Ombudsman was used by Parliament was to establish the office of Pensions Ombudsman in 1991.

History

The first Pensions Ombudsman was Michael Platt, who had previously been a civil servant. He was succeeded by Dr. Julian Farrand QC(Hon), formerly the Insurance Ombudsman. Prior to his work as an Ombudsman, Dr Farrand had been a Law Commissioner and a University Professor. He is married to Baroness Hale, also previously a Law Commissioner and the first woman to be a member of the

Judicial Committee of the House of Lords Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, for many centuries it had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for Impeachm ...

, now the Supreme Court, the UK's highest court. Dr Farrand was succeeded by David Laverick, a solicitor who was previously a Director of the

Local Government Ombudsman The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), legally the Commission for Local Administration in England and formerly known as the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), investigates complaints from members of the public about councils and ...

service and chief executive of the Family Health Services Appeal Authority. He was also President of the

Adjudication Panel for England The Adjudication Panel for England was an independent judicial tribunal set up under the Local Government Act 2000. Its role was to rule on alleged breaches of English local authorities' codes of conduct by elected members of those authorities. ...

, a body which dealt with allegations about the conduct of members of

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. Tony King was the Ombudsman from September 2007 to May 2015. Tony King was previously a Principal Ombudsman in the Financial Ombudsman Service. The role of Deputy Pensions Ombudsman was created in December 2004. The first holder of the post was Charlie Gordon, a barrister and Senior Inspector of Taxes who was previously head of the Adjudicator's Office. Jane Irvine, previously Chair of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, held the post from November 2009 to May 2015. Jane Irvine was succeeded by Karen Johnston, a barrister who was previously Strategy Lawyer at the Pensions Regulator. On 1 July 2020 Claire Ryan, the existing Legal Director, was appointed Deputy Pensions Ombudsman. In May 2015 Tony King was succeeded by Anthony Arter, a solicitor and former police officer who was Eversheds LLP London Senior Partner and Head of Pensions. The Pensions Ombudsman, together with the Pensions Regulator. the Pensions Advisory Service and the Pensions Registry, are funded by a levy on occupational pension schemes. The Ombudsman's services are free to complainants and respondents, and the Ombudsman's jurisdiction extends to many pension arrangements that are not subject to the levy. Since April 2005, the holder of the office of Pensions Ombudsman has also acted as the Ombudsman for the

Pension Protection Fund The 'Pension Protection Fund'' (PPF) is a statutory corporation, set up by the Pensions Act 2004, and has been protecting members of eligible defined benefit (DB) pension schemes across the United Kingdom since 2005. It protects close to 9 mill ...

, and in that capacity also deals with appeals against decisions made by the Financial Assistance Scheme, established by the Government to provide assistance to those whose pensions have been lost due to an employer going into

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

. As with other ombudsmen services, the Pensions Ombudsman has been accused of both being biased towards complainants and being biased towards the companies that pay the levy. However, the levy is a statutory requirement which pension schemes have to pay anyway. There have also been criticisms of the appeal process, which involves the cost of action in the higher courts, and the legalistic approach to casework. The Pensions Ombudsman's claim that it is a 'court' for certain purposes has been disputed.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Site
1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Pensions in the United Kingdom Ombudsmen in the United Kingdom