6 Conclusion
99. When
citizens complain, they want their concerns to be taken seriously
and, where necessary, matters put right. We have looked in this
Report at how the Government could improve how it deals with the
complaints it receives about its operations. Complaints systems
need to be accessible, understandable and easy for people to navigate.
People should get the help they need to access complaints systems,
and to take their complaints further if they are unhappy with
how their case has been handled. Complainants also need to have
confidence that their complaints will be dealt with in a fair
and competent manner.
100. The onus
is therefore on the Government to ensure that it responds to complaints
effectively and appropriately. A key part of this is making sure
that complaints processes meet the requirements outlined above.
Equally, however, it is about learning from complaints received
in order to improve how government and public services operate.
There needs to be a culture that invites and values complaints
for the insights they can provide on how to make government work
better. This is a culture that all government organisations should
be doing their utmost to foster—so that they not only put
things right for the citizen, but also get things
right for the future.
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