ABSTRACT
The chapter explores four key sets of relationships that the ombudsman is required to foster, those with: complainants; the broader administrative justice system; other accountability institutions; and, the leading players in the constitutional system the executive, Parliament and the courts. All of these underlying pressures on the administrative justice system are defensible but the result is a complex network of redress mechanisms. In terms of promoting Proportionate Dispute Resolution (PDR), progress within the UK administrative justice system has so far been uncertain and indeed an Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) survey indicated some professional scepticism about its scope. The idea of PDR has been elaborated upon further in the Law Commissions report on housing disputes. The Health Service Ombudsman (HSO) report on the National Health Service (NHS) complaints system highlighted that the procedure was still fragmentary, lacked focus and range of remedies offered was restricted and there was a lack of leadership to drive through the required cultural change.
