Putting Things Right

Download or read book Putting Things Right written by Great Britain. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2007-08 the Parliamentary Ombudsman received 7,341 complaints about government departments and a range of other public bodies. Of these, 2,574 were about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This is not surprising given the size and nature of DWP's business, serving as they do over 20 million customers at any one time. It is understandable, even inevitable, that mistakes will happen. What is important is how DWP dealt with the complaints arising from mistakes. Many, but by no means all, of the complaints received could have been resolved much sooner and by DWP themselves, if the complaint handling had been more customer focused. This report contains an anonymised digest of selected cases, highlighting poor information, delays, poor record-keeping, poor communication. Local resolution of complains should be the most efficient way to secure an appropriate outcome. It is hoped the report will encourage DWP to seek ways to improve the service they provide to citizens.