Mr Conroy, The Legal Aid Board And The Ombudsman

EDM number 550 in 2003-04, proposed by Andrew Bennett on 04/02/2004.

That this House deeply regrets the incompetence of the Legal Aid Board and the Ombudsman in the treatment Mr Conroy has received at the hands of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Legal Aid Board in failing to help him obtain damages he was awarded in his action against his landlord in 1997 as a result of advice he was given by Tameside MBC to take the landlord to court on the basis that the flat he was living in was not fit for human habitation as there was water coming through the ceiling and there was no heating; notes that the court awarded Mr Conroy damages and costs but, unfortunately, although Mr Conroy was able to get the damages, the Legal Aid Board, through their incompetence, were not prepared to pursue the landlord for the costs nor consider paying Mr Conroy the ú900 that he contributed to the costs; further notes that, in spite of frequent phone calls from Mr Conroy, the legal Aid Board disregarded him and the Ombudsman is not prepared to investigate the matter, arguing that without written documentation from Mr conroy they can do very little; acknowledges that Mr Conroy's problem was that he could not get the Legal Aid Board to take any action, nor respond to his phone calls; and calls on the Legal Aid Board, even at this stage, to reimburse Mr Conroy.

This motion has been signed by a total of 7 MPs.