According to the Ombudsman’s report to the Valencia Courts, thousands of politicians and civil servants had to shut their ears for much of yesterday morning. A total of 14,873 investigations and 4,071 complaints support the harsh and violent criticism that Ángel Luna, along with his deputies Concepción Bru and Carlos Castillo, reported for more than half an hour of how public administrations (employees and leaders) did not take their policies seriously. .laws and despises citizens with its silence and impossible bureaucracy.
The situation is so “confused” that the Valencian ombudsman has chosen to work to improve the “ranking” of misfit administrations, in the hope that embarrassment and embarrassment will leave a mark on the institutions that have become “enemy countries”. ». “This happens because they do not respond to the demands of the citizens, they receive a lot of demands”, they do not understand what is asked of them, and they are treated with a lack of empathy.
Ángel Luna argued that “after the pandemic, there have been significant consequences complicating relations between citizens and the administrations tasked with protecting their rights”. The abuse of the previous appointment, the contradictions of asking for any benefits, increase the problems that have become rarer than in other years. In the first place, there is the refusal of the Ministry of Equality and Policies to provide the minutes of the inspections made in the old people’s hostels and children’s centres.
Secondly, there is insufficient health care, particularly in the field of mental health, which compels the Ombudsman to expand ex officio investigations to analyze existing protocols and means of coordination between education and health.
“There are remarkable results that complicate the post-pandemic management-public relationship”
In third place is the deteriorated internal democracy, described as serious by the Ombudsman himself, which has led, above all, in the municipalities, to an increase in complaints from councilors who have no access to public information.
“We have little capacity to enforce, except for the publication of complaints,” he commented, and since this seems to be the only incentive understood by public representatives, the Ombudsman is preparing a sort of ranking to characterize cooperation or lack thereof. carried out by public institutions.
MEETING
There is no law protecting it.
“The previous appointment was not due to any law,” said Ángel Luna. “It’s a convenience that some administrations today organize work better,” the Ombudsman said. For the Ombudsman, it’s just right in areas like health, not departments like registry. He also remembered the Social Security incident, where some mafia took over this system, although he had evaded his powers. Maintaining this violates citizens’ rights and points to paradigmatic situations where the government forces people without resources to run the electronic process.
HEALTH
Primary care and waiting lists
5% of the complaints made in 2022 responded to this area. Of the 147 claims, 56 corresponded to special care. According to the Ombudsman, “significant consequences of the pandemic remain.” Although it is not the area that receives the most complaints, it describes a fundamental and structural problem. “Delays in primary care and specialties are added to hospital waiting lists, which are at unacceptable parameters and cause despair in users.” In this case, the institution demands a “transparency study” to remove victimization and realism doubts, since it is an “understandable, accurate and reasonable” explanation that citizens need.
“We have little capacity to enforce it other than the publication of complaints”
SANITY
more strong
We are facing a special episode for the Valencia defender. The report cites eleven complaints, but recalls the dossier opened ex officio in the Marina Alta department, which led to the analysis of the others, and which, as a result of the investigation, revealed a case of vulnerability that needed an “enormous and growing deficit.” effort”. This section discusses the situation of educational centers under investigation, based on the case of an institute in Mislata. Another vulnerable sector in this respect, as Ángel Luna described during the presentation of the document, are people without resources who face great difficulties in accessing aid and resources.
LIVING SPACE
pending positive
One of the few positive aspects revolved around the Housing Registry regulations and the complaint, which was closed by due process. The Ombudsman argued that, in principle, three recommendations were adopted to facilitate access. The first was to remove the fact that the application was electronic; second, a clear response from the administration, and third, an alternative assistance system. All await verification.
“Primary care, specialties and hospital waiting lists are at unacceptable parameters”
SOCIAL SERVICES
achilles heel
35.49% of the complaints respond to this area. It is still the largest volume. Access dependency, Valencia inclusion complaints and more than 80% of them are disability group related procedures. «The same problems remain, arising from management models, procedures and lack of tools». In her interview, Ángel Luna detailed how a person who was turned down for occasional work was punished after months of waiting for the inclusion income to be awarded. “They promote unemployment,” he criticized. On the other hand, there is no information to refer to at the point where the file is located and the bureaucratic confusion has not been resolved.
The delay complaint is reassembled and a criminal complaint is filed against the continued negligence leading to the wrongful situation at all levels.
At this point, Luna stated that the change in the head of the ministry (referring to Aitana Mas) does not mean a change in the institutional relationship, expressing regret both for the tone in some of the responses and the final response to the employers’ complaint. Inspection records of centers for the elderly and juveniles are denied by Aerte residences or the system. The Valencia defender acknowledged positively that inspections were increasing, but reiterated that the information is public and that the law obliges them to provide it and does not force Ombudsman staff to go to the Ministry to inspect it.
«The previous appointment is not due to any law. It is convenient for some administrations to organize the work»
WORK
Public access
It is noteworthy that 9.90% of the complaints belong to this area, even though it was overdone in the presentation. The Ombudsman has also processed complaints filed by candidates during election processes, particularly in public employment, where access to information is unclear allowing candidates to know why their exams were graded or to object. This complaint rate was over one point compared to the previous year.
neglect
transparency
Another area where complaints are close to 10% is curiously in the institutions themselves. Luna explained that despite advances made in laws and regulations regarding transparency, complaints filed by councilors of different signs over accessing publicly available information are increasing. “Some mayors believe the information is theirs” and thus launched a new and harsh charge against public powers, including the Valencian Courts, for the lack of legislation and insight to resolve this issue. “No one seems to care, but it seems serious to me. Democracies do not end in a coup, but in a progressive setback,” he complained. Ángel Luna referred to the recent Transparency Act, which was passed by the regional parliament, not including the repeated recommendation for politicians not to mistakenly rely on data protection.
PROVINCE OF ALICANTE
more relevant
It is noteworthy once again that the source of the complaints in the statistics is Alicante rather than other provinces. The defender explained that they “have no reason”, but the truth is that the province of Alicante continues to lead with 91.87 complaints per 100,000 inhabitants; Valencia follow with 71.34 and close the province of Castellón with 58.07. Turning to numbers, we see that in 2022, 1,747 complaints were filed by citizens residing in Alicante, 1,859 in Valencia and 343 from Castellón.
Note that in the overall data, 71.43% of the 4,071 complaints were accepted by the Ombudsman; He rejected 24.42% and transferred 4.15% to other defenders. Citizens continue to prefer the web or electronic channel to submit their complaints, and 92% use Spanish.
Other areas that stand out numerically are public services and the environment (12%) and city planning (3.96%).
Of the closed complaints, 40% correspond to resolution, 19% to resolution commitment, 16% to no evaluation, 12% to no response and the remaining 11% to other reasons.