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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Ombudsman
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An official appointed from the early 19C in Sweden to protect the legal interests of a group. In the 20C an official of this kind, charged with protecting the public, was established in other Scandinavian countries. The idea was adopted in New Zealand in 1962 and in Britain in 1966, when Sir Edmund Compton was appointed the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. Popularly known from the start as the Ombudsman, his brief was to investigate complaints against government departments, passed to him by MPs on behalf of their constituents.
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Recent Ombudsmen have also held the post of Health Service Commissioner, looking into complaints against the National Health Service. In the late 1980s, in the deregulation surrounding *Big Bang, non-statutory financial ombudsmen were set up in the City of London in the fields of banking, insurance and the building societies.
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