Annual Report 2007-08 - the Parliamentary and Health Service ...

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Applying our Principles to ourown work• Getting it right: reducing the numbersof complaints about us; ensuring we arecomplying with legislation applicable tous; effective auditing of our policiesand procedures.• Being customer focused: publishingour reports in a variety of formats toimprove accessibility; establishing andpublishing customer service standards;using feedback from our surveys andfrom complaints about us to help usimprove our service.• Being open and accountable:maintaining clear audit trails for ourdecisions; publishing our policies andprocedures; demonstratingaccountability through reportingopenly on our performance.• Acting fairly and proportionately:making evidence-based decisions takingaccount of materiality and risk; puttingin place internal processes which ensurethat our decisions and remediesrecommended are consistent and fair.• Putting things right: improving ourcomplaints procedures and processesto make them easier and clearer forcustomers to navigate and use.• Seeking continuous improvement:reviewing the effectiveness of changeswe have made to our structures andprocesses; acting on lessons learnedfrom this and our performance; investingin new ways of working and ourinfrastructure to support better delivery.Getting the most from staff,systems and financial resourcesApplying our Principles of GoodAdministration to our own workEnsuring that we live up to our ownprinciples of what makes for goodadministration is of fundamentalimportance to us, both internally andin the way we carry out our casework.We maintain a constant focus onimproving how we do our work andputting in place improvements wherenecessary in the service we provide.Investing in our people and takingforward our Equality and DiversityStrategyPHSO successfully achieved Investorsin People re-accreditation in 2007-08and we directly invested nearly £400,000in the learning and development of ourstaff over the year, supported by adedicated team. Particular emphasis thisyear was on management training witha Management Development Programmeand an Aspiring to ManagementProgramme being introduced. Substantialeffort was also put into improving theeffectiveness of our performancemanagement systems. We will bebuilding further on this in 2008-09.We have continued to implement ourEquality and Diversity Strategy withrelevant awareness training. A WorkforceDiversity Action Plan was agreed includingtargets of increasing the number of blackand minority ethnic staff working forPHSO to better reflect the profile ofpotential complainants. Performanceagainst this is being regularly monitored.82
Parliamentary and health service ombudsman annual report 2007-08Managing our resources effectivelyOur summary financial results areincluded in this report. Performanceagainst the financial targets in our2007-08 Corporate Business Plan wasas follows:• our net resource underspend of£174,000 was within our target limit forunderspending of less than £500,000;• our capital underspend of £199,000 wasoutside our target limit forunderspending of £100,000 due toa decision to defer replacement ofIT hardware;• we recovered 100% of income due inthe year, although excess incomerecovered was £53,000 above the£40,000 target we set due to factorsoutside our control;• we remained within the Net CashRequirement sanctioned by Parliament;• we paid 99.2% (2006-07: 99.6%) ofsupplier invoices within our targetof 30 days;• our resource budgets were managedto within 1% of tolerances set, withinour target of limiting variance to nomore than 2%; but capital budgets wereoutside the 5% tolerance at 12.9% dueto the deferment of IT spendingmentioned above; and• our depreciation charges for the yearof £1,298,000 were within our targetof being no more than £200,000 morethan our capital investment of£1,360,000 (actual variance – £62,000)which evidences the maintenanceof our capital base.Over the year our staffing numbersreduced by 21.6, and full-year turnoverwas very high at 25%, which had animpact on our performance. This was duemainly to the effects of our restructuringprogramme. A substantial amount ofresource was invested in 31 recruitmentexercises aimed primarily at strengtheningour casework, management and corporatecapability. 48 of the 52 positionsadvertised were filled successfully at thefirst attempt, with 3 of the other 4 beingfilled subsequently.Average sick absence in 2007-08 for PHSOemployees was 5.9 days per full-timeequivalent (fte), which was well within ourtarget of being no more than 7 days perfte. This was also significantly lower thanthe public sector average and on a parwith the private sector.Managing changeReorganising the way we do thingsOver the course of this year weimplemented a fundamentalorganisational restructuring undera programme called Organising forthe Future, the key aim of which wasto strengthen our capacity to deliveron our strategic objectives.The new structures were successfullyimplemented by November 2007. Thisincluded a new Customer Services andAssessment Directorate to improve ourfront-end processes for handlingcustomer enquiries and assessing whethercomplaints should be investigated. It alsoincluded setting up an Outcomes andLearning Directorate to ensure that thelessons from our casework are capturedand disseminated, and to provideenhanced capacity to develop effectivecasework guidance, supportingimprovements in the quality of our workand caseworker skills. The embedding ofthe new structures and the new ways ofworking has been supported withdevelopment awaydays and team events.Performance has been affected by a highnumber of caseworker vacancies, an issuewhich is being addressed.Corporately, we put in place a newDivision to manage our PolicyInformation and Communications.This includes four teams covering externalliaison and outreach; policy and research;internal and external communications;and knowledge and informationmanagement. These functions arerecognised as essential to the futuredevelopment and effectiveness of PHSO,and continuing to strengthen theircapability will be a priority in 2008-09.83
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