Abstract
This chapter is about the citizen’s voice in an ombud process. A reformed Public Services Ombud needs to have mechanisms in place to integrate users’ views into the decision-making process. This will benefit citizen’s experience of the complaint process and foster legitimacy and trust in the ombud institution. Taking users’ views into account in the design and management of ombuds will also help educate the public about an ombud’s responsibilities and assist in getting the best out of the system. Informed by empirical evidence, the chapter focuses on three topics: (1) procedural fairness, (2) managing expectations and (3) systemic learning, data collection and reporting. I conclude with practical recommendations for an amended ombud bill, which better integrates user-views.
I use the term ombud instead of ombudsman throughout this chapter.
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Notes
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This approach was adopted in an attempt to avoid a common perception ten years ago, when there was criticism from the public and ombuds watchers about an informal culture of settlement between the ombuds and the local authorities.
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Returns are published each quarter (https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/service-charter)
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See also (Tyndall et al. 2018: 7; PACAC 2019).
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Creutzfeldt, N. (2020). Managing Complaints: Focusing on Users and Non-users of the System. In: Kirkham, R., Gill, C. (eds) A Manifesto for Ombudsman Reform. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40612-7_7
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