The government’s complaint handing is ‘inconsistent, haphazard and unaccountable’, according to Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham. She warns that ‘overly bureaucratic’ complaints procedures are leaving people confused and exhausted, and wasting taxpayers’ money..

A new report published today is the first annual assessment by the Ombudsman of how well complaints about public services are being dealt with. The report reveals there is a lack of ‘a shared view’ across government on how complaints should be managed, leading to many different systems causing frustration and confusion for the public and a cost to the public purse.
The report provides a breakdown of the number of complaints to each government department and public body/. It highlights that HM Revenue & Customs, Jobcentre Plus, the UK Border Agency and the Child Support Agency generated more of the 7,360 (seven thousand three hundred and sixty) complaints made to the Ombudsman in 2010-2011 than any other public bodies.

Other highlights of the report include individual case stories of those who bought their complaint to the Ombudsman. In one case a man suffered the humiliation of being escorted from his workplace by security guards after the UK Border Agency mishandled his application for a residence card. In another, the identity of a woman who had helped Jobcentre Plus in a fraud investigation was accidently disclosed to the person being investigated, which led to her being threatened and her children being bullied at school.

The report also makes reference to an investigation into the Ministry of Justice’s treatment of one family who were interned by the Japanese during the Second World War.