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Routine failures to promptly respond to complaints from members of the public and inconsistencies between different government departments have sparked a deep-dive review with an aim of “enhancing accountability and transparency”.
Launched by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the panel of politicians responsible for keeping an eye on good governance across all areas of the public sector, the review follows a number of watchdog and Scrutiny concerns raised over recent years.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2020 found that the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department (CYPES) had no central record of complaints dealt with by schools. It meant there was no way of identifying patterns across schools to be addressed.
Another issue is that there is no consistency in approach for handling complaints across different departments, with Health and Education having their own mechanisms.
A review by PAC in 2022 noted this, and also highlighted how Ministers are able to disregard the findings of the States of Jersey Complaints Board or fail or refuse to implement its findings.
Pictured: Scrutineers noted how Ministers are able to ignore the findings of the States Complaints Board.
Statistics also show problems with the timeliness of response, with fewer than two in five receiving an acknowledgment within target times, and just 7.5% of complaints including an improvement action.
Explaining the rationale for the review, former Chief Minister and leader of the review Deputy Kristina Moore said: “‘Our review aims to critically assess how well the Government of Jersey handles and learns from customer feedback and complaints across all sectors. It is essential that the systems in place are not only effective and accessible but also foster trust and confidence among the public.
“We will be examining the implementation of policies, evaluating current processes, and ensuring that previous recommendations have been acted upon. Learning from feedback is a crucial step in improving public services, and this review will provide a comprehensive evaluation of whether these systems are delivering value for money and tangible improvements.”
The key areas the review will touch on include:
1. To understand and assess the current complaints process and systems in relation to Government but also the Complaints Panel and Police Complaints Authority.
2. Follow up on previous recommendations made by the C&AG and PAC in respect to the Government complaints process and systems.
3. To evaluate the extent that standardised corporate procedures to support the implementation of the Customer Feedback Policy, Customer Feedback Management System have been introduced.
4. To understand and evaluate to what extent all customers of public services are equally enabled, encouraged and supported to provide feedback, including complaints.
5. To understand the rationale why CYPES and Health and Community Services (HCS) data is not included in the overall government data around complaints.
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