China | Ombudsman publishes latest issue of Annual Report

The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Lau, today (July 18) released to the public her Annual Report 2017. The Report noted that most government departments are receptive to the recommendations for improvement made by the Office of The Ombudsman. The Office made a total of 254 recommendations upon completion of its full investigations and direct investigations. Of these, a total of 214 (84.3 per cent) were accepted by the departments and public bodies concerned for implementation while 40 (15.7 per cent) were under consideration.

Ms Lau said, "We act as a catalyst for change. (...) Over the years, most of our recommendations were accepted by the government departments and public bodies. There are also cases where our investigations have incited the government department or public body concerned to make improvements, even before we concluded the investigations and made our recommendations. This shows the positive effect that our investigations can achieve."

The Report also highlighted the increasing number of complaints about access to information in the past few years. During the year, the Office received 85 complaints, which was a new record high in this category of complaints. Of these complaint cases, 72 were against government departments and public bodies covered by the Code on Access to Information. Failings on the part of government departments were found in 32 cases, with 16 involving unjustifiable refusal to release information to the public, and this warrants attention. Meanwhile, the Office concluded 13 complaint cases about requests for information made to public bodies not covered by the Code and failings were found in four of them.

The Office is a keen advocate of apology legislation and is appreciative of the Government's effort in initiating the apology legislation. This year, in the 248 concluded cases where apologies were given by the organisations under complaint, 92.7 per cent (230 cases) were given in the course of or after intervention by the Office.

Meanwhile, the Office has continued with its efforts in promoting mediation in complaint handling: During the year, 133 cases were concluded by mediation, with 22 government departments and public bodies participating in resolving complaints by this method. 91.7 per cent of the complainants and all of the participating departments / public bodies who had responded to the Office's questionnaire survey considered the process to have achieved what they wanted.

On the work of her Office in the year ahead, Ms Lau said, "We envisage that this Office's investigation work will continue to contribute to improvement in public administration among government departments and public bodies. We will also continue to promote mediation, and further enhance our efficiency in handling enquiries and complaint cases. (...)"

 

Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Hong Kong

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