The Ombudsman Association welcomes the opportunity created by the competent authority concept to define and enforce high standards in ADR provision, and to provide a dedicated, stable, well-informed contact point and advocate for ADR within the public sector. The Association would prefer to see a single, central competent authority responsible for all ADR bodies.
We oppose in principle having multiple ADR bodies within a single private sector industry. This would create confusion for consumers and businesses and result in uneven standards of investigation and redress. There is also a risk of a ‘race to the bottom’ where ADR bodies compete for contracts with individual businesses by prioritising cost over quality, and possibly jeopardising the independence of their decisions.
Download an accessible PDF of our response below.