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Complaint Handling in Kildare County Council - A Report of the Ombudsman's experience of dealing with complaints against Kildare County Council

Appendix 3 - Guidelines from the Department

Appendix to Circular O.U 2/85

Liaison Officers

1. Each Manager should nominate an officer at senior level to act, for the local authorities for which the Manager has responsibilities, as Liaison Officer with the Ombudsman's Office. The name, official address and telephone number(s) of that officer and, in the future, any change in that information, should be notified both to the Department of the Environment and to the Ombudsman's Office.

2. It is envisaged that the Liaison Officer's main functions will be:-

- to act as the first point of contact in any particular case between the Ombudsman's Office and the local authority;

- to ensure that any written or oral enquiries from the Ombudsman's Office are immediately directed to the appropriate section(s) of the local authority for attention;

- to ensure that all time limits applying to requests for information, etc., from the Ombudsman's Office are met;

- to ensure that all relevant files and documents are readily available for inspection when requested by the Ombudsman's Office;

- to ensure that the Ombudsman's staff are provided with suitable facilities on their visits to the local authority.

3. In nominating an officer for liaison duties regard should be had to the above functions, and also the following aspects:-

- the need for ready access to the Manager;

- the status required to process complaints quickly and effectively within the local authority, and.

- accessibility to the staff of the Ombudsman.

4. It is not anticipated that the functions of Liaison Officer will occupy the full time of the nominated officer.

Examinations/Investigations by the Ombudsman

5. The attached guide to the main provisions of the Ombudsman Act, 1980 gives details of the types of cases which the Ombudsman may, and those which he may not, investigate under the Act. The Ombudsman is empowered to fix whatever procedures he considers appropriate for conducting an investigation. It is hoped, however, to keep formalities to a minimum and, indeed, to dispose of as many complaints as possible by telephone. To this end, if the Ombudsman's Office initiates enquiries into any complaint by means of telephone contacts with a local authority, but subsequently decides to undertake a Formal investigation of that complaint, that investigation will commence with a written communication to the local authority (see paragraph 7) and the earlier telephone conversations will not form part of the Ombudsman's investigation. Local authorities are expected to co-operate fully in such investigations and to support the aim of avoiding unnecessary formalities.

6. In the case of the preliminary enquiry the first person to be contacted by the Ombudsman's Office will be the Liaison Officer. He should, in the case of an enquiry by telephone, indicate what section of the local authority is involved. If possible, he should also supply the Ombudsman's Office with the name of a particular officer who should be in a position to respond to the enquiry, so that the Ombudsman's Office can then contact the officer involved and attempt to resolve the matter. He should ensure that any letter from the Ombudsman's Office is directed to the appropriate section. The Liaison Officer should have an important role to play in resolving any difficulties that may arise.

7. Where the Ombudsman decides to investigate a complaint formally under the Act, the Ombudsman's Office will write to the Manager of the local authority enclosing a written summary of the complaint and requesting written observations on it. Such enquiries should be dealt with as a matter of priority and a reply should issue within 14 days of receipt of the enquiry. The Liaison Officer should be kept informed of developments arising from all enquiries and copies of all replies from the local authority should be sent to him. If a local. authority does not accept that a complaint has properly been referred to it (e.g. if it is of the view that the subject matter is not one for the Ombudsman or if it feels that the complaint is not appropriate to the local authority), the Manager should convey the local authority view in writing to the Ombudsman within 7 days.

Production of Documents Witnesses etc.

8. The Ombudsman may, for the purposes of a preliminary examination or an investigation require that any information or document or any other thing relevant to his examination or investigation should be furnished to him. Where appropriate, the Ombudsman may require any person who, in his opinion, is in possession of any such information, document or other thing to attend before him for the purpose of furnishing it to him. Local authorities must comply with the Ombudsman's requirements in this respect. Subject to the Ombudsman's agreement and to notification of the person concerned, the Liaison Officer may attend any interview between the Ombudsman (or his staff) and the person concerned.  

Cases involving individual Officers or Employees

9. In some cases, a complaint may be directed against the administrative action of an individual officer or employee or the Ombudsman may find it necessary, in order to complete his examination or investigation, to scrutinise in detail the actions taken by an individual officer or employee. In such cases, the officer or employee concerned should be informed immediately that his actions are under scrutiny and he should be given an opportunity or examining, and suggesting amendments to, any draft reply to the Ombudsman in respect of this aspect of the examination/investigation. If the officer or employee is not satisfied that his position has been adequately reflected in any reply which issues to the Ombudsman, he may wish to submit his own comments directly to the Ombudsman. An officer or employee who wishes to make such a submission should be afforded all reasonable facilities to assist him in preparing the submission, including access to the relevant files, if necessary. The time limits applicable to personal submissions to the Ombudsman will be 14 days from receipt of the enquiry from the Ombudsman.

Time off, Expenses etc.

10. In the case of officers or employees who are required to attend before the Ombudsman as described in Paragraph 7 above, it is presumed that attendance will be regarded as part of his official duties.

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