Ombudsman’s report finds drop in complaints, alongside eGov concerns

Complaints to the Public Services Ombudsman have dropped sharply over the past year, the annual Ombudsman’s report has found.

The report has released positive findings, with the overall number of complaints greatly reducing from 372 in 2022 to 286 in 2023.

For Public Services Ombudsman Dr Ron Coram, this downward trend has been welcomed and reflects the work to tackle issues within the public service.

Of the 286 complaints recorded last year, 83 were discounted as they related to private entities “outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction”, including issues regarding private housing rent and repairs, legal issues and financial matters.

The remaining 203 complaints were related to Government Departments, agencies and other public entities.

The report detailed how complaints rose sharply in 2021 as historical grievances from 2020 were pushed forward into the next year due to the impact of Covid restrictions.

The post-Covid reduction in complaints has been a “welcome development” for the Ombudsman who, upon reviewing the figures, called this “remarkable”.

The downward trend was also reflected in housing complaints, with a decrease of 53% in a sector that has always attracted the highest number of complaints.

Despite the drop in complaints, housing continued to represent the highest proportion of complaints at 25% overall in 2023.

The Ombudsman said this was a “magnificent achievement” for housing, adding that “hopefully this will continue”.

For the Department of Social Security the decrease in complaints, the report said, could be attributed to them moving to a new premises in New Harbours and reduction in complaints from the GHA may be the result of the Patients Advocacy Liaison Service (PALS).

Dr Coram also congratulated the Civil Status and Registration Office (CSRO) for working hard and improving historical delays, resulting in fewer complaints.

Despite the overall positive tone of the report, Dr Coram found that Gibraltar Car Parks Ltd saw a rise in complaints from two in 2022 to 10 in 2023.

The Ombudsman said the complaints stem from “frankly incoherent payment instructions on their often ‘out of service’ automated machines” and “poor communication attitudes by staff who fail to take their role with any serious humbling tact”.

“There is a need to facilitate better customer service,” the report said.

“In addition, many complaints were related to non replies to letters and follow up by the authority on citizen enquiries. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that they setup an internal complaints procedure.”

“This at the very least would involve somebody designated to tackle any forthcoming complaints which appears to be currently lacking.”

Across the board, the report found the overall nature of the complaints was down to lack of communication, with delays, non-replies and inaction at the heart of issues.

Dr Coram found that although there has been a drop in complaints, greater attention and focus at the front line of the public services should be placed on communication.

“This was initially raised by the first Public Service Ombudsman back in the early 2000s and it appears that this is still a problem today,” the report said.

“For example, a comprehensive study of our front-line public services was undertaken by the Ombudsman back in 2022 which incidentally demonstrated that many of our Government front line services had insufficient resources to tackle day to day issues raised by citizens.”

“Instead, there appeared to be too many managerial layers tackling operational and planning issues at the expense of front-end staff (the doers). It has since been learnt that the new Chief Secretary will be reviewing the matter and addressing any alleged staff disproportionate distribution.”

eGOV SURVEY

The Ombudsman underscored that despite digital advances within public services, there are still many including the elderly who continue to need face-to-face assistance.

“Public services are also having to radically change how they conduct business, process, implement procedures and undertake operations,” Mr Coram wrote in the report.

“We are at a pivotal historical juncture similarly to when people accepted the invention of the steam engine, thereafter triggering the industrial revolution.”

“Whether they wish to accept the change or not is really a matter of personal choice but the stark truth is that in order to progress, we must embrace digital technology, or be left behind.”

The report added that members of the public are “essentially being steam rolled into using the eGov platform”.

Mr Coram highlighted that the public should not “swim against” the waves of change but that some may find the “tidal current to be too strong”.

“It is true that as more and more digital technology is used and learnt by younger generations say in school and at places of work, then over familiarity will inevitably make this the norm, but remember that many may disagree with this argument and may fall aside,” the report said.

The report added that “what has taken people by surprise is the accelerated speed of this change”.

Mr Coram described how the move to eGov has been “virtually instantaneous” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A survey on eGov was carried out to highlight where the challenges may lie and suggest recommendations to facilitate “proper interaction between the citizen and public service provider”.

The survey of young adults under of the age of 25 years found a mixed perspective by students whereby 53% preferred face-to-face contact and/or telephone whilst 47% enjoyed a more impersonal approach by adopting the use of email and/or online services.

“This is an important observation because it was suspected that most young adults tend to favour digital technology and in this case, it is seen that a slight majority continue to enjoy visible face-to-face interaction, or indeed less so, via the telephone,” the report found.

Of those who had accessed eGov, 63% said that they had encountered difficulties when using the online platform though 37% had not experienced any issues or problems.

Residents of Charles Bruzon House aged over 70 years were interviewed as part of the survey.

Most said they do not use eGov as they have encountered “major challenges” trying to access the platform.

“They do not understand how to properly complete sections, input files, which inevitably leads to the whole experience of engagement becoming a frustrating and wasteful exercise,” the report said.

All those interviews “wholeheartedly preferred personal face-to-face interaction via public counters”.

View the report in full here.