It has now been two months since I started as Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and I have spent that time listening, reading and absorbing all the information that my new colleagues, and those we work with at other organisations, have so generously provided. The time has flown by, and I have been struck both by how willing people are to share their knowledge and by their commitment to improving the public services that we all rely on. The passion for what we do, and why we do it, is infectious.
My career in the legal profession has been a bedrock for dealing with cases of injustice and whilst much of the subject matter is new, the poor experiences that people can go through are sadly not. Looking at the breadth of complaints that come to the Ombudsman, there is no doubt the local government and social care sectors, which we oversee, are experiencing significant challenge. It is no exaggeration to say that in some areas, like support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, the system is in crisis. Whilst there are no easy fixes, in these circumstances it is important to put people at the heart of every service and to get the basics right. While we understand the difficult environment that organisations are operating in, we must – and will without fear – continue to hold them to account when things go wrong.
The Ombudsman is an efficient and high performing organisation but experiences many of the same challenges as the sectors we oversee. We do not have the resources to meet the increasing demand that is coming our way. Like many public sector organisations, we know what we could achieve, and what we would like to do to address more of the systemic issues we see, but we are limited and, as such, focus on making the best impact we can with the resources we have.
I will work to put us on a firmer, more sustainable financial footing, to increase our national impact and to ensure that we are having real influence on the sectors we oversee through the implementation of initiatives like our Complaint Handling Code for local government. Despite the challenges there are real opportunities to improve public services to the benefit of people across the country. I take on the role of Ombudsman with real enthusiasm and determination to make a difference, for maximum impact and real improvement for local people in their everyday lives.
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