Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

2 June 2026

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Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Tue, 2 Jun 2026 House of Commons

00:01 - 03:05

Speaker 3

Well, good morning, colleagues, and good morning to our witnesses on this our first meeting of the second half of this parliament. Before we start, it may be helpful, for both committee members and for witnesses in the gallery if I set out the context of today's meeting. This committee is tasked with examining the reports of the parliamentary and health service of its ombudsman, which are laid before this house. Therefore, the role of the committee is not to either reinvestigate or relitigate complaints, but it's to give both organizations, BHSO and the in this instance, the Charity Commission, a chance to explain their perspectives on the investigations with a particular view to finding resolutions to any areas still contested and to provide a basis for future working and to learn, if any, the wider lessons. In line with predecessor committees, we cannot and would not expect to replicate the PHSO's investigations.

We will not automatically accept the PHSO's findings without making our own assessment of the PHSO's reports and the response from, in this case, the charity commission and any other evidence available. And we will, of course, test, it goes without saying, the PHSO's contentions thoroughly. Colleagues will be aware that the courts have now considered the judicial review case, but the charity commission refused permission succeed to proceed. Forgive me. We now have the benefit of that judgment and do not seek to act as an appeal tribunal in relation to that decision.

Colleagues will also be conscious that the privileges committee of this house is considering separately the issue of whether a contempt was committed in seeking to prevent the laying of reports before parliament. And you remember that I tabled the privileges motion on the floor of the house. That important work continues and is not within the remit of our considerations today. I'm not a member of the privileges committee. Therefore, I have no, conflict of interest.

While this is not an inquiry into the wider work and performance of the charity commission, that as a modus operandi day to day basis falls within the ambit of the DCMS committee. I am keen with colleagues to see if there are any patterns of behavior which we need to identify as a result of this specific case. We are taking oral evidence from the two organizations today, and parties will then have a chance for further written responses before we consider our next steps in advance of producing our report. We have a lot of ground to cover. I would ask colleagues to be succinct in their questioning and our witnesses pithy and focused in their responses.

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