A group of MPs is now scrutinising an ongoing dispute between the Charity Commission and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), shortly after a judicial review brought by the regulator against the PHSO was denied permission to proceed.
The regulator lodged proceedings in May 2025 after the PHSO published findings of an investigation a year earlier, which criticised the commission for failing to handle safeguarding concerns related to sexual exploitation properly.
PHSO was critical of the commission’s implementation of its previous recommendations regarding sexual abuse inquiries at two charities, with the regulator challenging the ombudsman’s findings.
Now, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) has launched an inquiry into the two reports laid by the PHSO relating to the separate investigations into two complaints about the commission.
PHSO previously accused commission of blocking publication
The disagreement between the PHSO and commission came after the former published two reports – one regarding the experiences of a woman named Lara Hall and another about a man named Damian Murray – both of which criticised the charity regulator’s response to its recommended actions to improve.
The commission subsequently lodged the judicial review claim over these reports, questioning the PHSO’s authority to make such recommendations as an ombudsman, and the regulator’s power to implement them.
PHSO accused the commission of preventing it from laying the critical reports before parliament, which the charity regulator denied.
In September last year, the ombudsman claimed that it had only been able to lay its reports before parliament following a motion successfully put forward by PACAC chair Simon Hoare.
PHSO’s letter to PACAC
In a letter to Hoare, dated 9 April this year, the PHSO said: “By scrutinising instances where our recommendations have not been acted on, the committee is able to uphold the principle that failures in public administration and service delivery cannot be overlooked.
“We value the committee’s role, which complements that of PHSO, in assessing how institutions respond to systemic issues and ensuring that lessons are learned in order to prevent repeated harm.”
At the conclusion of the letter, the PHSO added that it was aware that the commission has now written to both complainants to confirm that it was going to undertake more work on compliance, and has told the PHSO that it intends to appoint an independent reviewer.
The PHSO said: “We welcome this step forward and the constructive engagement displayed by the commission.
“We hope that the process will be undertaken in a way that the complainants feel heard and ultimate result will be an outcome that is compliant with our original reports.”
Commission welcomes PACAC’s inquiry
A commission spokesperson said: “We welcome the committee's consideration of the two PHSO reports.
“We have long accepted that there were important lessons for the commission to learn from these sensitive cases, and we have apologised and paid compensation to each complainant.
“In light of the PHSO reports and court decision, we are commissioning an independent external review to examine how we handled the two cases.
“This will help ensure the commission continues to improve its processes for the benefit of future complainants and more effective regulation of the sector."
