Twenty-seven government and public agencies have recently set up processes to receive customer complaints after being taken to task earlier this year in a Cayman Islands Office of the Complaints Commissioner report.
Complaints Commissioner John Epp. |
Complaints Commissioner John Epp said that leaves just 18 of the 79 public agencies in Cayman without a formal system for handling complaints.
That information was compiled several months after the OCC found less than half of the agencies surveyed last year had internal complaints processes.
‘Some businesses pay thousands of dollars for focus groups to hear what people think about programmes or initiatives,’ Mr. Epp said during a Caymanian Compass interview earlier this year. ‘A wise manager…uses an internal complaints process as a research tool.’
Among the agencies who have added a complaints process since the last OCC review: the Civil Aviation Authority, Customs, the Elections Office, the Fire Service, the Legal Department, and Government Information Services.
The agencies which have not set up an internal complaints process include the Department of Agriculture, the Airport Authority, the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau, and the Passport Office.
Eight entities did not bother to respond to the second OCC survey. They are: Boatswain’s Beach, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Meteorological Office, the National Museum, the National Roads Authority, the Postal Service, the Public Service Pension Board, and the Sunrise Adult Training Centre.
Mr. Epp said some of the agencies that do not have a complaints process in place recognise the need for one and have started developing them. He also noted that some had changed their complaints procedures after receiving advice from the OCC.
Government agencies such as the Postal Service and the roads authority have previously told the Compass that they would develop a formal complaints procedure. However, Postmaster General Sheena Glasgow has said not having a formal process doesn’t mean the service ignores complaints.
‘I am willing to commit to putting an (internal complaints process) in place, but in my own reasonable and realistic time frame,’ Ms Glasgow has said (see Compass, 16 March). ‘In the meantime, the postal service will continue handling complaints.’
More freedom for OCC
Cabinet has approved legal changes which allow the Complaints Commissioner to more efficiently hire experts or advisors to assist in OCC investigations.
Under the regulations, the commissioner would be able to offer payment for services after determining fair market value for the work performed.
Transport and accommodation charges must be accounted for by receipt, but the commissioner can pay up to $50 for expenses where no record has been kept.
The law also allows compensation for witnesses who’ve had to miss work in order to provide testimony or evidence to the OCC.
‘The discretion to offer witnesses and advisors fair compensation for their assistance without having to seek Cabinet’s approval will help to speed up the process to obtain accurate information,’ Mr. Epp said. ‘It is essential that the investigations are completed in a timely and just manner.’
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