Dear colleague, I warmly invite you to the next Network Conference on 8- 9 April 2019 in the European Parliament in Brussels. This time round our meeting will take place against the backdrop of the European elections where much is at stake. For this reason participative democracy and how to strengthen the role of citizens in decision-making will be a key theme during the conference which will bring together the national, regional and European Ombudsmen and Petitions Committees as well as the liaison officers. In addition to the panel discussions, there will be working groups to tackle some of the issues that affect us all. I very much hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you in the European Parliament in April 2019. With kind regards, Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman

Topics for discussion Based on the feedback we received from you after the 2018 conference and from other fora, we have chosen four topics for workshop discussions: participative democracy; the effect of GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) on the work of ombudsmen and petition committees; the challenges ageing societies face; and developing ombudsman soft powers. We will also discuss cross-border problem solving with SOLVIT, the European Commission-funded network. Interpretation will be provided in Spanish, German, English, French, and Italian. Draft programme Conference venue The conference will take place at the European Parliament. You will receive your entrance badges in the Atrium Welcome Point, Rue d’Ardenne 2, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.

Jeudi 28 Février 2019 Le Défenseur des droits prend acte avec gravité de l’arrêt de la Cour européenne des droits de l’Homme, Khan c. France, condamnant la France pour « traitement dégradant » d’un enfant de douze ans ayant vécu plusieurs mois dans le bidonville de la lande de Calais, en violation de l’article 3 de la Convention européenne des droits de l’Homme. Il était intervenu dans la procédure...

28 Feb 2019

An autistic teenager was moved from her residential special school midway through her studies because of poor planning by Suffolk County Council, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.

The teenager had been attending the out-of-county independent school for five years when the council moved her in July 2016.

The council had intended to educate the girl at a local mainstream school following her move, but could not put in place the correct level of support as it was unaware of the provision available in the area. She was left without full-time education for five months – until another independent special school was found for her.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found significant faults with the council’s handling of the situation. It took 14 months to issue the teenager’s Education, Health and Care Plan, which had initially been issued without any assessment of her social care needs.

The council made the decision to end the girl’s placement at her school without any evidence her needs had changed, and failed to consider transition planning when she was in Year 9, and instead waited till she was in Year 11.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Michael King, said:

“It had taken a long time for this girl – who has significant needs – to settle at her school, and yet Suffolk County Council moved this girl despite the evidence supplied by the school and her educational psychologist.

“A lack of resources should never be the primary factor in deciding the best provision for a child with educational needs. This has been compounded by the council’s poor planning throughout the 14 months, and its admission it was unaware of the provision it had within its own boundaries.

“We welcome the steps the council has already taken to improve its services to children with special educational needs and hope this report, along with others from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, will help inform the changes the council needs to make to ensure other children are not affected in the same way.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s role is to remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the mother and daughter for the delay in arranging full-time education.

It will also pay the daughter £1,200 for the loss of one term of education, and a further £1,000 for the 14 months of uncertainty and distress she was faced with while the council was trying to find a suitable alternative placement.

It will pay the mother £1,000 for the disruption to her working arrangements caused by her daughter’s unplanned return from residential school and a further £500 for the time and trouble she spent pursuing the complaint.

The council has also agreed to pay the family £1,000 for the 14 months of uncertainty caused by its actions.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve a council’s processes for the wider public.

The council has already conducted a review of the young people with EHC Plans whose placements were moved from out-of-county to in-county before their Plans were issued (from 1 January 2015) as a result of inspections by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. It has confirmed that those potentially affected were provided with the opportunity to exercise their right of appeal to the Tribunal.

The council has also agreed to review its policies and procedures to ensure EHC Plans are completed within the statutory time limits, needs are identified, provision is met and ensure decisions are based on the assessed needs of each young person;

It will also take relevant action to ensure it is aware of the provision available in its area and surrounding areas, revise its Local Offer to ensure it properly reflects the provision available in the local area and outside of the area; and take relevant action to ensure transition planning work has begun when a young person with an EHC Plan is in Year 9.

2019-02-26

The Ombudsman took part in the conference organized by the Center for Administrative and Fiscal Arbitration (CAAD) on February 26 in Lisbon to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Maria Lúcia Amaral intervened in the debate on "The Frontier between tax collection and taxpayers' guarantees" alongside Helena Borges, director general of the Tax Authority (TA).

After a peak of complaints that coincided with a greater computerization of TA and led the Ombudsman to order inspections, Maria Lúcia Amaral stated that "our perception is that in the last ten years the AT has improved the automatisms regarding tax executions" .

Citizens' more systemic grievances about tax administration today are related to delays in hierarchical appeals, particularly in cases of IRS and property tax disputes.

The Ombudsman drew attention to the fact that she had in her hands an old problem concerning the IRS taxation system of income from previous years, the resolution of which depends on the legislator who, in response to a recent amendment recommendation considered it "inopportune".

"It is a regime that produces incomprehensible injustices and that will tend to penalize a growing number of people given the great growth of people's complaints about delays in the processing of pensions by Social Security services," warned Maria Lúcia Amaral, signaling that this is an example of how the tax administration requires more of the taxpayers than of itself.

2019-02-25

The Ombudsman, acting as the National Prevention Mechanism (NPM), participated in meetings organized by the Greek Ombudsman, with the support of the Council of Europe, on 22 and 23 February, in Athens, to discuss the follow-up of returns foreigners by air carried out by Frontex monitors.

This meeting, in which the Portuguese MNP was represented by its coordinator João Costa, follows a first international approach to the theme, which took place in October 2018.

The existence of external controls on Frontex monitors and the greater sharing of information were consensual aspects between representatives of National Prevention Mechanisms/Ombudsmen present. The creation of a platform to carry out such external control is being considered, with the participation of National Prevention Mechanisms and possibly other authorities under the aegis of the Council of Europe.

Created on 26 October 2004, Frontex is a European agency whose purpose is to coordinate cooperation between EU countries in the management of their external borders.

In May 2013, following the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Ombudsman was given the responsibility to act as an independent national mechanism for the prevention of domestic torture - MNP.

It is the responsibility of the MNP to regularly examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention. The NPM also has the power to make recommendations to the competent authorities to improve the detected deficiencies or repair situations that are not compatible with the international obligations assumed by the Portuguese State.