PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT

16 Jul 2004 12:15 PM

Please note: This is a re-issue of this press notice with the correct Deparmental Title

In her latest Annual Report to Parliament, Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, highlights the difficulties caused by the badly managed introduction of large-scale changes to service delivery. The operation of the Child Support Agency and the new tax credits system are cited as two particular examples where things have gone wrong.

"The introduction of large-scale changes in service delivery, especially when underpinned by complex IT projects, is always challenging," says Ann Abraham. "But the lessons of past mistakes are clear and should have been heeded. The principles of good administration demand adequate preparation, good planning and proper piloting."

In the case of the Child Support Agency, the consistent themes of the 222 complaints received by the Ombudsman, were failure to pursue effective enforcement, delay and mishandling, failure to keep customers informed and compensation issues. The Annual Report features four case histories illustrating these themes. But the introduction of the Agency's new computer system and new rules for assessment during the year have also caused considerable problems for its customers, although this has not yet translated into a significant increase in the number of complaints received by the Ombudsman. "We will monitor this situation closely", says Ms Abraham, "and I urge the Agency to ensure it has robust plans for making redress for the impact of these problems on families."

The Annual Report also describes how the introduction of the new tax credits system was equally beset by difficulties. Although, overall a minority of the applicants was affected, many thousands of claimants experienced considerable distress and financial hardship.

During the year, the Ombudsman received 1,981 new complaints about government departments and other public bodies. Ann Abraham makes clear that many of the complaints would not have reached her if they had been dealt with properly in the first place. Often they were not dealt with quickly enough by the body concerned, and she found a clear reluctance among some to accept her findings and
recommendations for redress. Ends

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Annual Report 2003-04, HC 702.

2. Copies of the reports will be available on the website www.ombudsman.org.uk from 15 July.

3. Case studies involving the CSA include C.525/03 (page 11) - The Ombudsman found that although the non-resident parent had proved unco-operative, the Agency could have done more to get him to comply. They had failed to monitor progress properly or keep in touch with the parent with care, and their enforcement strategy had been weak. Following the Ombudsman's intervention, the Agency awarded the mother a payment of 200 for gross inconvenience, interest on the arrears of payments from her former partner and gave an assurance that they would try harder to obtain the absent parent's compliance in future. C.885/03 - The Agency took more than two years to make a first maintenance assessment and slow to periodically review the case. For a long time the parent with care did not know what her entitlement would be and the Agency allowed the absent parent to accrue substantial arrears. Following the Ombudsman's intervention, the Agency apologised for their poor service, made payments to the parent with care for the distress and gross inconvenience they had caused her, reimbursed her out-of-pocket expenses and undertook to monitor the father's compliance with his agreement to clear his outstanding arrears and to take immediate action should he fail to keep to it.

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