Ombudsman Association Biennial Conference
News
June 18, 2013
Our Senior Investigating Officer attended the Ombudsman Association Biennial Conference held at Loughborough University on 16th-17th May 2013.
The Conference was based around the overall theme of “20/20 Vision- looking forward on the Association’s 20th anniversary” and was run in the format of plenary sessions and workshops.
The sessions were varied in form and content and were delivered to all delegates by a variety of speakers. The areas covered were- “appropriate dispute resolution forums and legal challenges”; “accessibility- a strategic approach to managing the challenges”; “complaint handlers and relationship with Ombudsmen” and “Ombudsmen- the next 20 years.”
There were numerous workshops on offer for attendance and participation. The Gibraltar office elected the “human rights” and “information compliance in complaint handling” options. Both proved to be informative and of practical application to the work conducted by the Gibraltar Ombudsman in our community.
The Gibraltar Ombudsman noted the importance of Gibraltar’s participation at events of this nature. “It is imperative that representatives of our office attend key conferences. Firstly, because in the case of the Ombudsman Association the Gibraltar Public Services Ombudsman is a fully voting member of the Association (the highest tier of membership). It is therefore important that our status within the Ombudsman world is preserved. Secondly, by taking part in international events, we gain and share Ombudsmen principles, good practice and advancements. These are applicable in the day to day running of our office, as we constantly strive to improve the service we provide to our community.”
