The irony of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) download link to their report on complaint handling in the public sector being non-functioning made Guido smile. At the time of going to pixel it is still broken…

Guido has got hold of an embargoed copy. After looking at the NHS’s failings in particular the slaughter house that was the Mid Staffordshire NHS it concludes:

We recommend that the Cabinet Office introduce a single point of contact for citizens to make complaints about Government departments and agencies. This single point of contact should be active rather than passive in helping complainants navigate the systems and also to frame their complaints. An online solution is no doubt key, but the availability of meaningful human support at the end of a telephone for those who need it must be provided.

So we need an “OffComplaint”. A new quango to improve complaint handling at quangos and government agencies. That will not succeed in Guido’s view even though it may be the only way to register dissatisfaction with state monopolies. The best solution is always competition, consumers choosing to go elsewhere and taking their revenue with them is the only way to incentivise the driving up of standards. That requires a profit motive, something the Labour Party is dogmatically opposed to, even when it benefits users…