By CHRIS DANIELS
Attempts to cash in on the mana and prestige of the Swedish word "ombudsman" have been dealt a blow.
Chief Ombudsman Sir Brian Elwood has refused permission for the word to be used by the electricity industry, which is trying to set up a new complaints procedure.
An electricity ombudsman is part of Energy Minister Pete Hodgson's plan to address widespread public anger about power companies in the deregulated industry.
Sir Brian is concerned that the public will be confused by a proliferation of industry ombudsmen.
If people want to use the name "ombudsman" they must first get permission from the Chief Ombudsman.
"It was put there to protect the name ombudsman," said Sir Brian. "Of recent months there have been a number of requests directed to me for the use of the name ombudsman. Not just in the electricity industry. So for some reason ,the name ombudsman has developed some legs in terms of desirability."
He said the industry ombudsmen, in banking or insurance, were for resolving complaints, not reviewing complaints, which he did.
Sir Brian's refusal to let an electricity organisation use the word ombudsman has upset the Consumers Institute, which says the name would give consumers confidence.
Institute chief executive David Russell said he was astounded at Sir Brian's decision.
"The proposed scheme is specifically tailored to cope with complaints and problems people are likely to have with their electricity retailers," he said.
Sir Brian's office was designed to deal with Government ministries, departments and agencies. It did not have a dedicated consumer-retailer focus.
Mr Russell agreed that the name carried weight, in part through the work of the Sir Brian's office, but argued that the electricity ombudsman would be backed by a robust and dependable structure.
Sir Brian said his Office of the Ombudsmen had no power to order Government officials to do anything, but 99 per cent of its recommendations were acted on. This was solely because of the reputation of the office.
Another of Sir Brian's concerns is that an electricity ombudsman might have power to hear complaints about state-owned power concerns. He has jurisdiction over these as part of the state.
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