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How will the Office of the Ombudsman deal with my complaint?

We will first make sure that we can deal with your complaint.Then we may ask the public body concerned to send us a report. If we need to, we may examine their files and records and question officials. It can take time to gather the information that we need.

We will then decide whether:

• your complaint is valid, and
• you have suffered due to the action or decision of the public body.

If we decide that you have suffered, and the public body has not taken steps to put this right, we may recommend that it does so. We may ask the body to:

• review what it has done,
• change its decision and/or,
• offer you:

- an explanation,

- an apology, and/or

- financial compensation.

In most cases, we handle the complaint in an informal way. We may discuss the problem directly with the public body or examine the relevant files. In more complex cases, we may need to carry out a detailed investigation.