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The island is too cash-strapped to set up a new office to handle complaints into the public sector, Policy & Resources has decided, but the deputy which most recently proposed the idea has vowed to fight back saying that assessment is “unsatisfactory, but unsurprising”.
The States directed the top committee to investigate the idea in tandem with the Government of Jersey in November 2022 following a strongly backed amendment to the Children’s Law reforms from Deputies Heidi Soulsby and Yvonne Burford.
That support included four members of Policy & Resources.
The Ombudsperson would’ve operated independently from the States and provided a more approachable and more efficient system for dealing with complaints alleging public service mismanagement or service failures.
But P&R now says the idea shouldn’t be pursued due tight public finances and a need to find savings, with the estimated cost to be £170,000 if the service is shared with Jersey: “Establishing a Public Services Ombudsperson is not a priority use of resources and should not be pursued further at this time."
It also says a recent review into the existing system for complaints has been undertaken, and while there is room for improvement it thinks it should be considered down the line.
“To say that it is a good idea, but we shouldn’t do it now because there is no money, is a weak one given it represents less than 0.03% of annual revenue expenditure, and when the Committee itself says that it could lead to greater efficiencies and free up resources,” Deputy Soulsby told Express.
She will lay an amendment “seeking to ensure a public services ombudsman is put in place for all the reasons set out in the policy letter” when it’s debated in the States next year, likely in the February meeting due to a large backlog of government business.
Pictured: The current complaints system requires one or more of the following to be satisfied to uphold a submission.
Deputy Soulsby continued: “The policy letter explains at great length the problems with the current system, the benefits of having an independent body, and why working with Jersey would make sense. The only negative aspect is referred to in the conclusion.
“This would directly benefit members of the public who currently are not best served with the current formal, complex and long-winded complaints system, which, as a consequence, is little used.”
Jersey plans to introduce its own ombudsperson for public services complaints by the end of the year following a public consultation process in 2019, but it plans to encompass more public services such as its external trading entities such as Jersey Post, whereas Guernsey was seeking more slimmed down arbitration for internal government matters.
P&R therefore considered a Guernsey-only Ombudsperson to deal with these issues, but argued this would increase costs to over £200,000 per year and
But P&R did admit that the current public sector complaints process is “overly complex and time consuming, unsatisfactory in redressing perceived injustice, and lacking in independence” when compared to other jurisdictions.
Certain health complaints handled by a dedicated customer service team take up a significant amount of officer time, and HSC indicated in representations it would prefer those cases to be considered by another body to create efficiencies.
Jersey will exclude its health service from the Ombudsperson’s remit initially, before considering whether to extend oversight, due to the anticipated high level of case work it would generate.
“The Committee is further reassured that several ways of bringing greater independence to the complaints process within Health & Social Care are being considered to address recent calls for such independence,” P&R concluded, despite HSC’s support in principle for the new service alongside Jersey.
Currently anyone with a complaint into a decision of the States of Guernsey must do so through the administrative decisions law, which may be escalated to a review board hearing which are often public.
Pictured (top): Deputy Heidi Soulsby.
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