HS2 showed a lack of respect for residents, ombudsman warns

Official watchdog says taxpayers treated as a ‘nuisance’ as he criticises failure to heed complaints

THE firm behind HS2 has treated concerned residents as a “nuisance” and with a “lack of respect” rather than properly addressing their complaints, an official watchdog has said.

Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, highlighted HS2 Ltd as an example of publicly owned bodies routinely treating taxpayers without compassion.

Mr Behrens made the intervention after he issued a report concluding that the firm was “dishonest, misleading and inconsistent” in its dealings with a family whose home it was attempting to purchase to make way for the rail line.

He wants bodies such as HS2 to adopt a universal set of standards for dealing with complaints by members of the public.

The ombudsman is also calling for the watchdog he leads, which investigates complaints about government bodies and the NHS, to be able to initiate its own investigations where they are needed. Currently it only investigates individual cases that have been referred on by MPs.

He said: “I know from the work that I’ve done looking at and talking to my counterparts in 50 or 60 different countries that they would regard the UK as being 10 or 15 years behind them.

“In Africa, in Europe and other parts of the world you have direct access to the ombudsman. You don’t here. They have their own initiative powers.”

He warned that problems exposed by the Ockenden Review into poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital’s maternity unit were also found in bodies such as HS2 and the Home Office and needed to be urgently addressed.

Addressing the report published by the ombudsman last year, Mr Behrens said: “The HS2 complaints system was sub-optimal. It didn’t treat the people affected that we dealt with with sufficient respect. It changed the rules of looking into complaints in a way that disorientated the complainant.

“And the complainant [was] treated as a nuisance rather than a service user who experienced very difficult issues.”

Mr Behrens added: “That experience I’m afraid is common ground with what we heard more seriously with Ockenden where the mothers of babies were blamed for complaining about conditions that they experienced.

“It’s true of the Home Office’s approach to Windrush, where people were regarded as a nuisance rather than people to be listened to and have their issues addressed.

“There is a common element in many of the cases that we see about a lack of respect which departments have for people. And that’s what we want to change in the complaints standards initiative which we have, which is heavy on rigour, on learning, on openness, and on compassion.”

Mr Behrens said that the Home Office, the Environment Agency and the Department of Health were all guilty of a “lack of listening, a lack of compassion, a lack of willingness to learn, in a way which is worrying.

“I don’t see the majority of cases that might be resolved before they come to us. So I can’t say it’s a default. But it is an issue that has to be addressed.

“What pleases me is that the NHS and central government departments say yes we’re up for this, we want to do this, we’ll work with you, providing you treat us as genuine partners and we can use our good experiences because it’s not all bad. I think that’s absolutely right.”

An HS2 spokesman said: “We understand that residents did not choose to live along the line of route and that for many the process of having their homes acquired will be distressing.

“HS2 Ltd endeavour to treat every land and property case with [respect], while also recognising our obligations to spend taxpayers’ money appropriately when agreeing compensation.”

‘The HS2 complaints system was sub-optimal. It changed the rules to in a way that [confused] the complainant’