The Northern Ireland Ombudsman has reported a major increase in the number of complaints against the government and its agencies.
Head of the leading public sector watchdog Dr Tom Frawley said there was a 15.4% jump in complaints to his office in the last year, and an increase in cases where he detected poor administration or a failure to follow rules.
His annual report also included stinging criticism of the Planning Service which he said continued to make the same basic errors he has highlighted for years.
Dr Frawley said the tougher economic climate underlined the need for efficiency in publicly funded organisations.
"I recognise that in the present economic climate public services are tested, as government and senior management seek even greater economy and efficiency," he said.
"At such times statutory requirements, the needs of individual citizens and the quality of the delivery of public services can, if we are not vigilant, become secondary"
"In such challenging times, my office provides an impartial mechanism for ensuring redress, where appropriate, to the individual citizen" he added.
The ombudsman said his office received 681 written complaints.
It was an increase in workload which was related partly to a 120% rise in complaints against the health service, though this was attributed to a change in how health-linked complaints were handled.
But his report also noted a jump in the number of maladministration cases in the Assembly and against the health service.
Poor administration rulings were made in 21 cases at the Assembly, compared with 10 in the previous year.
There were 23 rulings in the health sector, compared with 10 the previous year.
In his annual report he said he was concerned at basic flaws that continued to surface in the Planning Service.
"The number of complaints I received about the actions of the Planning Service increased this year by 13.7%", he said.
"The complaints were, as previously, almost exclusively from objectors to planning applications, for most of whom my office remains the only route by which to challenge the actions of the Planning Service, once a planning decision is made and the internal complaint process has been exhausted."
He noted frustrations at the fact that under the current legislation he does not have the authority to overturn a planning decision, even if he disagrees with it.
But the ombudsman also noted persistent simple mistakes, including a failure to notify neighbours of proposed developments in their areas, failure to reply to letters, the provision of inaccurate information, or the insufficient explanation of decisions.
He added: "Disappointingly, I see no improvement in general administrative practice despite reassurances from the Planning Service that lessons learned from individual complaints have been fed back to front-line staff."
The ombudsman said: "Each new case I investigate is as likely to contain as much of this avoidable maladministration as those cases I have investigated in past years."
Dr Frawley emphasised that there were significant challenges ahead for his office. These include:
- The extension of his office's powers to investigate complaints about the new Justice Department.
- Improving engagement with the Northern Ireland Assembly about the workings of the office.
- Completing the review of the office and developing the legislation that is needed to achieve a Public Service Ombudsman's Office for Northern Ireland that will meet current and future challenges.
Complaints about the health service increased by 120%, including 209 written complaints.
This, however, was as a result of significant changes in the way complaints are handled.
The report noted that previously when complainants were not satisfied with the way the health service had dealt with their complaint, there was a second tier independent review, and only if it did not resolve the matter would it be referred to the ombudsman. Now cases go directly to the ombudsman.
Dr Frawley welcomed the change "mainly because it allows my office to investigate issues which are still 'fresh' in the memory"
"The removal of the independent review stage has resulted in complaints being investigated within a few months of the events which have given rise to the matters complained of".
He noted continuing complaints over housing issues, relating to the Housing Executive and Housing Associations, but said they had fallen during the last year.
The ombudsman called for government to fully implement a modernisation programme dating from 2004 to boost the work of his office.
And while he said progress was made, further movement was possible.
Dr Frawley said that his office was able to identify improvements that public bodies could make to their services.
"We also act as a shield against unfair and unreasonable criticism when, at a time of financial retrenchment, public expectations of services also require to be managed more realistically" he added.
© Press Association