One 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 have a new set of powers to hold the Services to account on their handling of complaints. There are big challenges for us ahead – not least the fact that we don’t yet know what volume of complaints we’ll be handling. Naturally, the work to prepare this office started many months ago. We have recruited a full team of investigators who will be accredited to industry-leading standards, who will operate to the very highest criteria. We have the resources we need for the job and we have sufficient flexibility within our existing resources to ensure that we can handle our expected workload.
I’ve also been meeting with other Ombudsman organisations (including those with oversight of the Armed Forces of other nations) to find out how they operate and to ensure that the way we do business will meet or exceed the standards set by the very best across the global Ombudsman sector.
The Services themselves welcome the introduction of a new system and I and my staff are working with them to ensure that, in future, complaints are handled faster, more efficiently and more fairly. As I’ve said many times, in the past, new processes won’t work without a fundamental change in culture and the ultimate test is how this will all work in practice. I believe the Services need to make it easier for people to feel comfortable about coming forward with their complaints, and confident that, when they do, their complaints will be dealt with properly.
However, even this is not enough unless more is done to tackle some of the underlying behaviours which generate the complaints in the first place.
I’ve therefore been delighted to learn of (and in some cases, be invited to participate in) initiatives the Services are taking to tackle some of these issues. These initiatives have included events aimed at improving awareness on gender, diversity and inclusivity, addressing what is considered acceptable behaviour and bringing about cultural change and better leadership.
I am hugely optimistic that this new complaints process will generate real improvements in the way complaints are handled. Ultimately, however I will continue to be robust in holding the Services to account for the way in which they handle complaints. In the future, I will have the additional powers I need to do this more effectively.