TIO Annual Report 2003/04

Summary of Complaint Handling Performance

Reviews

The right of every complainant to request a review by a manager or senior staff member of a decision made by Investigations Staff has long been a hallmark of the TIO’s independence, as well as a useful quality assurance tool.

The increasing complexity of review requests and the volume of work being handled by Investigations Managers led the TIO to create the position of Review Officer in early 2004. The Review Officer works directly to the Deputy Ombudsman and is independent of the Investigations Staff and their direct managers.

In 2003/04, 326 reviews were requested, a decrease of 22.7% from last year, but still higher than previous years. The decrease can be seen as indicative of the success of new quality assurance measures adopted by the TIO, in particular, the need to give clear evidence-based reasons for decisions. The decrease probably also mirrors the increase in complaints resolved partially or substantially in favour of complainants, as reported above.