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Rountable event hosted by the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman
On 27.11.2024, the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel hosted a highly successful roundtable event to mark the publication of its special report on the topic of public service in public bodies. The report was tabled with the Israeli parliament (Knesset) on 26.11.2024.
The findings of the special report were based on a survey conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman, which assessed the service provided for the public by eight public bodies, and on an analysis of over 34,000 complaints received between 2019 and 2024. The survey involved visits by staff members to the selected bodies; furthermore, 100 benchmarks were established from the Office of the Ombudsman's experience, which will serve as guidelines for the public bodies themselves.
At the special event, four roundtables were held which were moderated by ombudspersons and public complaints commissioners from various public bodies - a northern municipality; the Children and Youth Complaints Commission (for children in out-of-home placements); the Second Authority for Television and Radio; and the Office of the IDF Ombudswoman.
The roundtables addressed the following issues:
- The removal of barriers to the provision of service and the promotion of rights take-up.
- The service user as 'client';
- Public service in the digital era;
- The importance of preparedness for providing services and assistance in times of emergency and crisis.
State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel Matanyahu Englman opened the event and spoke, among other things, about the importance of providing appropriate service for the public in view of the vast number of complaints received on the matter, and the innovative measures taken by the Office of the Ombudsman to gauge the service provided by public bodies.
Dr. Esther Ben-Haim, Head of the Office of the Ombudsman, then presented a summary of the special report, highlighting some of the benchmarks established. The participants from the many diverse public bodies then attended the roundtables to which they had been allocated, where they shared the challenges and barriers facing them and made suggestions for overcoming them.
The special roundtable event serves as further testimony to the role of the Office of the Ombudsman as a "professional home" for sectoral ombudspersons and public complaints commissioners, and reflects the importance that the Office of the Ombudsman attaches to peer learning.
Source: The Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel
