In his Annual Report for 2007, the Ombudsman already promised to explore ways to make his decisions more reader-friendly, aiming to provide a better service to complainants and to offer clearer guidance, to both citizens and officials. After carefully examining various options for change, the Ombudsman has decided to adopt a new style of decision as from September 2008.

At present, decisions closing inquiries take the form of a letter to the complainant, which is copied to the institution or body complained against. The letter begins with a chronology of all the steps in the inquiry. This is followed by detailed accounts of the complaint and of the Ombudsman’s inquiry, including the institution's opinion on the complaint and the complainant’s observations on that opinion. The final part of the decision reviews the evidence, repeats in summary what has been set out previously, and then explains the Ombudsman’s findings and his reasons for closing the inquiry.

When the present structure was adopted in 1996, most complaints were relatively simple and closing decisions were correspondingly short. Over the years, the issues raised by the average complaint have become more numerous and more complex. As a consequence, the detailed accounts of what was said by the complainant and the institution have become longer and more intricate. This, in turn, makes the repetition inherent in the present structure more intrusive and distracting. The overall result is that decisions have become longer and less reader-friendly.

In the new style, the letter to the complainant is separate from the decision. In substantive terms, it is more personal in tone and informs the complainant in a straightforward way of the outcome of the complaint.

The decision itself has an improved structure:

• In its first two sections, the Ombudsman sets out the background to the complaint and then explains the scope of his inquiry.
• The next section refers to the stages of the inquiry procedure, including the Ombudsman's efforts to resolve the problem(s) and the differences between the parties.
• As before, the final section reviews the evidence and explains the Ombudsman’s findings and his reasons for closing the inquiry.

By avoiding unnecessary detail and repetition, the new style will result in shorter and better focussed decisions. The next step in making decisions more reader-friendly will be to simplify the language used, as far as possible. This will be done progressively, with the aid of external consultants, beginning in the last quarter of 2008.

The new style of decision will be adopting from September 2008.