The office of the ombudsman was repeatedly called to investigate complaints levelled against five Government agencies.
At the top of the list was the Ministry of Health and Wellness with 40 complaints. The National Insurance Scheme – renamed the National Insurance and Social Security Service – had 36 reports, followed closely by the Barbados Police Service on 32, while the Barbados Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Education rounded out the top five with 27 and 25, respectively.
These were among the findings by Ombudsman Reverend Dr Nigel L. Taylor in the 2023 Annual Report Of The Ombudsman Of Barbados. He submitted the documents for 2023 and those from January 1, 2020 to December 21, 2022 – combined in one report – to Speaker Arthur Holder during last Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Assembly.
Taylor said the Barbados Water Authority (19), Ministry of the Public Service and Immigration Department with 12 each, Treasury Department and the Barbados Prison Service (11 each), and the Ministry of Transport and Works (ten) were the other agencies under scrutiny. However, of the complaints received, 96 were outside the jurisdiction of the office.
He said some of the Government agencies simply took too long to respond when complaints were being investigated.
“Government has a duty to provide the members of the public with relevant information, which includes information about progress with their concerns and requests. This is needed to satisfy the provision of information and to rectify any or all breaches of an inordinate time lapse for decisions to be presented, which can ultimately cause frustration for the complainant.”
The Ombudsman said some members of the public service not only needed to understand what the quality standard of service was, but “their responsibility and accountability in the process”. He said the public expected some measure of satisfaction if things went wrong and someone must accept responsibility.
Taylor took up office at the end of May 2023, almost a year after the retirement of the late Valton Bend, who served from 2009 to July 2022. In the interim, investigative officer Michael Sabazan had general oversight.
There were 646 complaints brought forward from 2022 and 141 were received in 2023 for a total of 788. By the end of the year, 391 or nearly half were resolved.
Some of the complaints included extremely long waits in the Accident & Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, conduct against members of the Barbados Police Service, supersession, non-payment or cessation of benefits, complaints about roadworks, payment for water but not getting a supply, non-payment of income tax refunds and delays in application for pension.
The other report combined the three-year period ending 2022.
“The activities for the three-year period 2020, 2021 and 2022 were compiled into one document owing to the massive reduction in the number of visits and complaints made to the officer over said time period due primarily to the restricted movement associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic,” the report noted.
In 2020 there were only 15 reports and these were mainly via telephone, the majority against the National Insurance Scheme. After Government explained the policy on unemployment benefits, the number of cases declined, it was noted.
The following year, with movement again restricted, the office of the Ombudsmen did extensive forensic research into its own operations to determine its integrity.
“A preliminary internal inspection into this office’s practices at the time under inspection revealed that the process for preserving relevant records and evidence, including emails, handwritten notes, files, calendar entries, cheques, financial statements and related documents was deficient. Access to these documents had not been carefully evaluated. Preliminary investigation indicated that there was too much dependency on the integrity of the individual,” the report said.
“Due to this perceived shortcoming, it was thought that the Office of the Auditor General should be invited to conduct the regular audit as well as to provide advice on any corrective measures which should be implemented to combat any shortcomings which might have appeared in our current accounting procedure as a result of the audit.”
By 2022, as operations began reverting to normal, some cases were reported, but the majority of that period was spent trying to erase the backlog. However, the majority of complaints were against the police and the Ministry of Health.
The report noted where the complaints were outside the jurisdiction of the office, there were recommendations on where people could pursue their queries.
