Complaints to Ombudsman rise amid fifth-wave pandemic in 2022-23 (with photo)
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The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, presented the 2022-23 Annual Report of the Office of The Ombudsman to the public today (July 12). The Office received 766 pandemic-related complaints in the year of 2022-23, accounting for about 14 per cent of the total number of complaints, a hike from 206 last year.
"Before the pandemic subsided, Hong Kong was hit by a fifth wave, the worst so far. The Government has to constantly adjust its measures to combat the pandemic, triggering complaints touching on a wide range of subjects such as vaccination and testing, quarantine and isolation as well as various relief schemes. There were also complaints arising from the disruption of public services caused by special arrangements during the pandemic. Tolerance of the public seemed to have dwindled and patience worn out as people yearned for return to normality. Consequently, more have taken their grievances to our Office," Ms Chiu said.
The Office received 5 357 complaints in 2022-23, which was an increase of 8.6 per cent from last year. A total of 5 323 cases were completed in the year, including those brought forward from the preceding year. Among these cases, 2 558 were pursued and concluded while the rest of the complaints (2 765) were closed after assessment due to insufficient grounds to pursue the complaints or because of jurisdictional or legal restrictions. The Office also received 9 279 enquiries, which was an increase of 4.8 per cent compared to previous year.
In the year, 141 complaints were concluded by way of full investigation and 78 (55.3 per cent) of them were substantiated, partially substantiated or unsubstantiated but with other inadequacies found. Among the 2 112 inquiry cases concluded, inadequacies were found in 378 (17.9 per cent). Meanwhile, nine direct investigations were completed in the year.
During the year, the Office made a total of 211 recommendations upon completion of its full investigations and direct investigations. Of these, a total of 189 (89.6 per cent) were accepted by the organisations for implementation while 22 (10.4 per cent) were under consideration as at June 30, 2023.
Mediation has proven to be an effective and speedy way of complaint resolution. Successful mediation cases reached a record high of 305 in the year, out of which 182 cases (59.7 per cent) were pandemic-related. It took about 11.6 days on average to conclude a complaint by way of mediation (1.8 days faster than the previous year), and over 64 per cent and 91 per cent were resolved within 10 days and less than one month respectively.
The Office received a total of 67 complaints about the Code on Access to Information (ATI) during the year, which was the lowest in the past five years. There were 18 cases with inadequacies found, out of the 71 ATI complaints concluded, which was also the lowest in recent years. A reasonable inference is that government departments and public bodies have become more conversant with the Code.
The full text of the Annual Report can be viewed or downloaded from the Office of The Ombudsman website at www.ombudsman.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Issued at HKT 15:00
Issued at HKT 15:00
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