The Ombudsman for Wales’ Annual Report & Accounts for 2023/24, published today (Friday, August 15), shows a staggering 37 per cent increase since 2019 in the number of new complaints received about public services and the behaviour of local councillors.

During 2023/24, the Ombudsman received:

939 complaints about Health Boards, a 31% increase over the past five years

1,110 complaints about Local Councils, a 28% increase over the last five years

380 complaints about Housing Associations, a 47% increase over the last five years

Clinical treatment in hospital remains the subject of the highest number of complaints, making up 44% of all health complaints. Although the Ombudsman received more complaints about Betsi Cadwaladr than other health boards, Hywel Dda University Health Board had the most complaints per 1000 residents.

The Ombudsman found that something had gone wrong and intervened in 20% of those cases, a 52% increase over the last five years. Three out of four times, the Ombudsman intervened by proposing Early Resolution, to deliver justice quickly without the need for a full investigation.

In addition, this year the Ombudsman issued eight public interest reports on some of the most serious complaints; these related to healthcare and the provision of gypsy and traveller accommodation.

Organisations complied with 97% of the Ombudsman’s recommendations due during the year.

The Ombudsman is also responsible for investigating complaints about local councillors breaching the Code of Conduct.

The events which arose at the end of March, concerning a now former member of staff’s social media activity, called into question the office’s impartiality when handling Code of Conduct complaints. In order to rebuild public trust and confidence in our service, the Ombudsman appointed Dr Melissa McCullough to undertake an independent review of our handling of Code of Conduct complaints. The Terms of Reference for the review can be found here. The report on this review is expected in October and will be published then.

During 2023/24, the Ombudsman received 518 Code of Conduct complaints; a 16% increase on last year. 54% of new complaints were made against councillors at Town and Community Councils and 55% were about how councillors promoted equality and respect.

The office does not make final findings about breaches of the Code of Conduct. Instead, where investigations find the most serious concerns, these are referred to the Standards Committee of the relevant local authority, or the Adjudication Panel for Wales. In 2023/24, the Ombudsman made 21 such referrals - Standards Committees and the Adjudication Panel for Wales upheld and found breaches in 85% of the Ombudsman’s referrals they considered in 2023/24.

The Ombudsman has an important role to drive public services improvement. In 2023/24, the Ombudsman’s office continued its important work to introduce complaints handling standards to public bodies in Wales.

56 public bodies across Wales now comply with the Complaints Standards set out by the Ombudsman, including 23 housing associations and all local authorities and health boards in Wales. The office has provided 500 training sessions since 2020, reaching about 10,000 staff at public bodies in Wales.

The office can also investigate on the Ombudsman’s own initiative (without having received a complaint). In 2023/24, the office consulted the public on its next Own Initiative Investigation, which looks at carers and commenced that investigation.

During 2023/24 The Ombudsman Wales office handled over 10,000 cases, closing more than they have ever have done before and reducing the costs for each case and investigation. The office also successfully reduced their ageing cases, those over 12 months old, by 70%, by the end of the year. These cases are often the most complex and distressing for the people making the complaint.

Michelle Morris, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said:

“This annual report reflects the first year since I published my Strategic Plan 2023-26 ‘A New Chapter’. I am pleased to see that we have made good progress towards achieving the ambitious goals set out in the Strategic Plan.

2023/24 has been our most efficient year – we dealt with more complaints than ever before, reduced the costs for each case and investigation and also successfully reduced our ageing cases. Our investigation and support staff dug deep to meet this target. We have helped more people and have made a significant contribution towards improving public services in Wales. Our people are our most important asset and I have never been more proud of their hard work.”

The Ombudsman Wales is now well on track to meeting the objective to complete all of these older cases by the end of March 2025.