Quality and Service Standards
Our internal quality and service standards
These are:
- Our service is easy to access, we take full account of what people tell us and treat them with courtesy and respect
- We deal with each case promptly, from first contact to final decision
- The remedies we recommend are proportionate and appropriate
- We exercise our discretion fairly and consistently and are transparent about the process we follow
- Our investigations and assessments are impartial and we make clear, evidence based decisions
- Our record keeping is accurate and we ensure that the data we hold is kept secure and confidential
- We use the outcomes of complaints to promote wider service improvement and learning
We regularly report performance against these standards to the Commission. Details can be found in previous Commission meeting papers.
Ombudsman Association Service Standards Framework
The Ombudsman Association Service Standards Framework sets out what the Association’s members and stakeholders consider to be good practice. The framework came into effect in May 2017.
The Framework provides a 'roadmap' that Ombudsman organisations can use to raise their own performance, embed good practice in their organisation, and to demonstrate the quality of the service they provide.
In clarifying what service users can expect, the Framework acts as a tool with which to manage expectations and build trust and confidence in the services that members provide.
The Framework enables members to report on their performance to the public and to the organisations they are accountable to on five commitments to service users:
- Accessibility
- Communication
- Professionalism
- Fairness; and
- Transparency
We carried out benchmarking exercises in 2017, 2019 and 2021 to determine how well we are meeting and measuring ourselves against the standards using our internal mechanisms.