Record number of complaints to Federal Ombudsman
Last year the Federal Ombuds Service investigated a record number of cases. During 2023 the Federal Ombuds Service opened a total of 10,195 cases. Of these 7,383 resulted from complaints from the public. 2,812 cases concerned requests for information. A quarter of the complaints were about the energy grants that were financed by the Federal Government in order to soften the impact of the sky-high electricity and gas prices in late 2022 and early 2023.
The Federal Ombuds Service investigates members of the public’s complaints about federal public service. The Service’s annual report that was published on Wednesday shows that last year the number of cases opened by the Federal Ombuds Service passed the 10,000 mark for the first time. The number of complaints has been increasing year on year. Since 2018 the number of complaints dealt with by the Ombuds Service has risen by 45%.
The Service’s annual report cites to the successive crises of recent years as a reason for the increase in the number of complaints. For example, the coronavirus crisis brought with it a sharp increase in the number of complaints about unemployment benefits. In addition, wars and humanitarian crises have put pressure on asylum and migration services resulting in a rise in the number of complaints. Last year the energy grants paid out by the Federal Government to help households through a period of very high energy prices led to more than 1,700 complaints.
75% of cases resolved
The Federal Ombuds Service was able to find a solution for 75% of the complaints made by members of the public. A large portion (44%) of the complaints concerned excessive waiting times for an answer from a federal public service. Whistleblower cases also increased sharply in 2023 due to a widening of the Federal Ombuds Service’s powers in this field.
Last year the Service dealt with 293 cases related to whistleblowers. Of these, 62 cases were related to suspected integrity issues (fraud, nepotism, abuse, etc.) in the federal public sector and 209 files dealt with breaches of law in the private sector.