FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Service Complaints Ombudsman’s first Annual Report has been laid in Parliament.
The 2016 Annual Report for the Service Complaints Ombudsman, covering the first year of operation of the Ombudsman’s office and the new streamlined Service complaints system, was laid in Parliament today.
In their inaugural year, the Office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman (OSCO) logged 921 contacts, 90% of which resulted in a formal application requesting the Ombudsman to use her powers of referral or investigation. A total of 218 referrals were made to the Services on behalf of individuals who intended to raise a Service complaint but did not want to approach their chain of command directly.
62% of the 335 applications for investigation made to the Ombudsman were accepted. The majority of these applications were for reviews of an admissibility decision on a Service complaint or appeal (33%) or an investigation into alleged undue delay in the handling of a Service complaint or Service matter (31%).
While the Ombudsman considered it too early to determine conclusively whether the new system was efficient, effective or fair, she welcomed the concerted effort by the all three Services to address the backlog of unresolved complaints from the previous system.
The Ombudsman remains concerned about the overrepresentation of female and BAME Service personnel in the Service complaints system when compared to their representation in the Armed Forces (21% versus 11% and 10% versus 7% respectively). One of the 12 recommendations she made in the report calls for the Ministry of Defence to commission a study to determine the root causes of this overrepresentation and to take appropriate action to try and redress this.
Nicola Williams, the Service Complaints Ombudsman, said “The objective shared by myself, the Ministry of Defence and the individual Services remains a complaints system in which all Service personnel have confidence and in which timely outcomes are achieved. I will continue to work constructively with the Services. I will hold them to account where I feel that they fall short, but where there have been real improvements I will be the first to publicly acknowledge this. Above all I am committed to ensuring I play my part, ably assisted by the entire OSCO team, in developing that confidence by delivering thorough and timely decisions for our investigations, transparency of action, and supporting the education of Service personal about the Service complaints system.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. About this report
The Ombudsman’s 2016 Annual Report covers the first year of operation of the Office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman and the new streamlined Service complaints system. The full report can be read on our website – http://www.servicecomplaintsombudsman.org.uk/service-complaints-ombudsman/publications-and-reports/annual-reports/
2. About the Service Complaints Ombudsman
The Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (SCO) replaced the role of Service Complaints Commissioner from 1 January 2016.
The Ombudsman was created by the Armed Forces Act 2006, as amended by the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015.
The Ombudsman provides independent and impartial oversight of the Service complaints system. The primary way in which she does this is through her powers of referral and investigation. Using these powers the Ombudsman can:
• Refer a Service person’s intention to make a Service complaint to their chain of command
• Review a decision by the chain of command to not accept a complaint for investigation or to not allow a complaint to proceed to appeal for a further decision
• Investigate allegations of undue delay in the handling of a Service complaint or Service matter
• Investigate allegations that there was maladministration in the handling of a Service complaint which has completed the internal system
• Investigate the substance (merits) of a Service complaint which has completed the internal system
Nicola Williams took up the appointment as Service Complaints Commissioner in January 2015 and was subsequently appointed as the first Service Complaints Ombudsman on 1 January 2016. Ms Williams was previously the Complaints Commissioner of the Cayman Islands.
3. About the changes to the Service complaints system
Following the Secretary of State’s announcement on planned reforms to the Service complaints system in March 2014, the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015. The Act, which amends the Armed Forces Act 2006, sets out the new Service complaints system and established the role of the Service Complaints Ombudsman.
The new system reduced the three stage complaints process to a two stage process, involving a decision and at most one appeal stage. This will reduce delay as the decision body will be empowered to grant redress in the first instance.
The role of the Ombudsman provides independent and impartial scrutiny of the handling of Service complaints. While the responsibility to resolve Service complaints remains firmly with the chain of command, the Ombudsman has been vested with significant new powers to hold the Services to account for their handling of individual cases.
4. Photographs available on request
Further information
For more information about the Service Complaints Ombudsman, please visit www.servicecomplaintsombudsman.org.uk
Media enquiries to:
Julia Morrow, External Relations Officer, 0207 877 3438 or 02824 835 695
Debbie Brothers, Head of Office, 0207 877 3442