What happens at the end of an investigation if the Ombudsman finds in my favour? What is redress, does it just mean compensation? What type of redress will I be given? Can the Ombudsman pay me compensation? Can the Ombudsman force the Services to follow her recommendations? These are all questions that my team are […]
Continue reading
This year has seen a rise in the number of anonymous complaints received by my office. As many of these complainants do not provide any contact details my staff and I are unable to respond to these to directly. My first blog for July is written to those of you who have made an anonymous […]
Continue readingThe end of June marks the completion of the first 6 months of the new Service complaints system and my Office. I thought that it would be appropriate to use my June blog to tell you about the work of my office in that time and what I hope the next 6 months will bring. […]
Continue readingRecently there have been a lot of questions about whether respondents to a Service complaint can ask me to investigate their concerns. I thought I should use my blog for this month to clarify the role of my office by outlining when and how respondents to a Service complaint can make an application to my […]
Continue reading
One of the most important parts of the Ombudsman’s job is meeting Service personnel to gain a better understanding of the issues facing them on a daily basis in their Service life, both good and bad. In her April blog, the Ombudsman recounts her recent experience of acting as the Reviewing Officer at an RAF […]
Continue reading
In her March blog, the Ombudsman explores the informal resolution of Service complaints. Service personnel who are considering making a complaint often contact my office for information on the process. At times what they want to know is whether making a Service complaint to their Commanding Officer (CO) locks them into the formal complaints process, or whether […]
Continue readingSince my role became that of an Ombudsman on 1st January 2016, my office has received many enquiries from Service personnel who want their Service complaint to be investigated by me instead of their chain of command. There seems to be confusion as to why I can’t do this, so I thought I would use […]
Continue readingThe 1st January 2016 saw not only the beginning of a new year but the beginning of the new Service complaints system and my role as Service Complaints Ombudsman. Over the past 30 days we have received a steady stream of enquiries from current and former Service personnel wanting to obtain further information […]
Continue readingMuch of the Armed Forces’ work lies overseas and I have been determined to make sure I get out and meet personnel on deployment as well as in their home bases, to help me get a real feel for the challenges they face. On deployment in the Gulf In my opening blog entry, I mentioned […]
Continue readingOne of the biggest motivations for me in taking on this role has been the fact that there is radical change on the way. As I’ve now seen for myself, changes to the complaints system are very much needed – now they are finally coming to fruition. As the first Service Complaints Ombudsman, I will […]
Continue reading