The work of the Office of the Ombudsman was stymied in 2022 due to losing almost half its staff, with seven senior positions left vacant in the 16-person department, according to the annual report submitted to Parliament last week.
Ombudsman Sharon Roulstone wrote in the report that 2022 was best described as a “reset” year, which had begun with a number of staff vacancies created by the loss of several key posts in 2022 and the previous year.
She wrote, “In the Complaints Division, 3 of the 4 senior investigators plus the Deputy Ombudsman post as well as the senior data protection analyst post in the Information Rights Division were all vacated by the beginning of the 2nd quarter of 2022.
“The post of Ombudsman had been held by two others by the time of my appointment in that same period. By the 3rd quarter, the Finance & Administrative Manager post had also been vacated, amounting to 7 senior post vacancies during the year.”
She described this as an “unprecedented drain of knowledge and experience which hampered the ability of the Office to achieve much else except to keep up with the public enquiries which had also increased.”
Throughout the year, the office dealt with a total of 378 complaints, compared to 371 in 2021.
Restructuring
However, Roulstone said the “hardships created by this unprecedented knowledge-drain also created an opportunity to take stock of the Office and determine whether, as is, it could sustain future growth. There was a clear indication that the Office was gaining public trust by the increased number of enquiries received in 2022.”
An organisational restructuring that focused on ensuring staff were no longer “pigeon-holed” into specific roles had helped with staff development and succession planning, as well as the office’s ability to take on additional work, the report noted.
“With the Office down to almost half its staff complement, there was limited or no ability for staff in different practice areas to help each other,” Roulstone said.
“The solution appeared to be in doing away with the divided-up practice areas and provide cross-training within the respective Divisions. This would create development opportunities for staff as well as prepare the Office for continuity of operations in the event there was another instance of widespread vacancies.”
By the end of 2022, she said, three staff members had transitioned into newly created posts, and all other staff transitioned early in 2023.
During 2022, the office had launched several recruitment campaigns, and by the end of the year all but one of the vacant positions had been filled, mostly by Caymanians, Roulstone said.
She noted that throughout the year, there had been little uptake by Caymanians in the recruitment efforts, “most likely due to lack of the required experience, given the newness of some legislation, as well as competition from the private sector”.
Of the 378 inquiries carried out last year, 178 were in relation to maladministration, 45 to freedom of information, two to whistleblowing, 49 to police complaints, and 104 to data protection.
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