Ms Glass tabled her report into a matter referred to her by the Legislative Council in November 2015 this week. The Legislative Council asked the Ombudsman to investigate allegations of ALP MPs’ misuse of staff budget entitlements before the 2014 state election. She found 21 ALP Members of Victorian Parliament - including 11 serving and 10 former MPs - breached Parliament’s Members’ Guide by certifying payments to electorate officers used for party political campaigning.

On February 27, 2018, the Ombudsman for Future Generations, together with the Hungarian Clean Air Action Group, in partnership with the German Umwelthilfe and the Danish Ecological Council organized an international conference on the problem of air pollution caused by domestic heating. Nearly 80 experts attended this event, representing the competent ministries, environmental authorities and non-governmental organizations.

A lo largo de 2017 se han atendido un total de 13.437 actuaciones, (incremento de la actividad del Ararteko en esta anualidad de un 22%) de las cuales 9.545 corresponden a quejas y consultas y 37 a expedientes de oficio. Se han realizado un total de 10.168 servicios en las oficinas de atención directa: 3.600 han sido a través del servicio telefónico y 6.568 las personas que han acudido a alguna de las tres oficinas, demandando información y asesoramiento.

Vulnerable patients with mental health conditions are being badly let down by the NHS, causing them and their families needless suffering and distress, according to a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report published today. The Ombudsman has also found that NHS mental healthcare staff can lack the capacity, skills and training they need to do their job effectively, and do not always have the support they need to learn from mistakes.

 

Ontario universities came under the provincial ombudsman’s oversight in 2016. The office has since received more than 500 university-related complaints. Paul Dubé is in the “persuasion game.” Whether it’s overseeing complaints about provincial government ministries, municipalities or universities, Mr. Dubé, Ontario’s ombudsman says his modus operandi remains the same. “My approach as an ombudsman has always been to show all stakeholders what’s in it for them, why they will benefit from these recommendations, that it’s in their interest.”

 

On 20 March 2018 Ombudsman Kräuter welcomed Mr Mahito Shindo, Assistant Professor at the School of Sciences of Waseda University, Tokyo. In a current research project Mr Shindo examines to what extent Ombudsman institutions can ensure the quality of administrative environmental decision makings. The Austrian Ombudsman Board was pleased to contribute its expertise to this academic work.

On 14 March 2018, a session of the Expert Council on Military Personnel Rights adjunct to the Human Rights Defender (HDR) was held. HRD staff members and NGOs field academia experts participated in the meeting, which was chaired by Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan.

With a view to foster the bilateral relationship and cooperation, Justice Naser Seraj, President of the General Inspection Organization (GIO) of the Islamic Republic of Iran hosted a delegation from the Turkish Ombudsman’s Office and visited his colleague, Mr Ken Sanuki, in Japan.