Looking back at Ombudsman Conferences
As we reach the final months of the year, it is a time to reflect on a busy period of outreach and engagements at SCOAF. In particular, each year two events that have become staples are our attendances at Ombudsman conferences. Two key events in the calendar that both the Ombudsman and I attended in the Summer was the annual Ombudsman Association (OA) Conference and then last month was the International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces (ICOAF).
OA Conference
The OA Conference was originally planned to take place in Cardiff, but after a number of music artists had plans to take over the city for the same period, it meant that the Ombudsman community had to look elsewhere. After some quick thinking, hard work and perseverance from Donal, Maz and Charlee at the OA, the 2024 OA Conference took place in Bristol in June.
This year’s conference had the theme of ‘Impact and value in a time of finite resources’, something that resonates with a lot of Ombudsman schemes, including SCOAF. As has now become customary, the conference allowed for the community of Ombudsman member and complaint handler members to come together in person to share ideas and experiences in person. Personally, I find this useful as each Ombudsman and complaint handler organisation is unique. So, to be able to discuss, share challenges and ways of navigating them with likeminded individuals from different sectors over a dedicated period like this is invaluable. I often find that the challenges are similar and that depending on the maturity, life cycle or size of an organisation, everyone has experienced something similar and has something to contribute in terms of ideas or lessons learned.
Having built my career in the world of Ombudsman and regulation, the conference was also a great opportunity for me to reconnect with former colleagues and friends. Each year my network develops further, and I come away feeling more invigorated to put my new learning into practice in the workplace, sharing with my teams to ensure that complaints handling is improved.
One of the highlights of the OA Conference this year also saw our Ombudsman, Mariette Hughes be awarded with the 2023-24 Outstanding Contribution Award. Mariette commented:
“I am extremely proud of the performance achieved by SCOAF over this last year. Our operational performance represents a much-improved experience for users of our service and lends credibility to our voice in the sector. People are at the heart of everything we do, so it has been a privilege to lead our extensive outreach programme, and I really value the opportunity to speak to so many Service personnel and help build trust and confidence in the system.
I feel very honoured to receive this award and would like to thank every member of the team at SCOAF for their trust, enthusiasm and dedication to improving the system for all Service personnel, and for coming with me on this journey.”
ICOAF
This year was the 16th ICOAF conference held in Berlin. It was jointly hosted by the German Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and DCAF – the Geneva Centre for Security and Sector Governance.
ICOAF was also a very useful conference, where we were able to meet and learn from colleague Ombudsman schemes internationally. What was interesting is that in each of the nations, each of the Ombudsman schemes all work differently, having different jurisdiction and levels of oversight of Armed Forces. Some nations have specific Ombudsman that just oversee the Armed Forces, whereas others may have a general Ombudsman that will also look at Armed Forces matters.
I look forward to seeing and sharing content from next years conferences.
SCOAF Chief Operating Officer.