The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Judge Emeritus Joseph Zammit McKeon, made an informative and significant visit to the National Archives of Malta in Rabat.

The Ombudsman was greeted by Dr Charles J. Farrugia, the National Archivist, who guided Judge Zammit McKeon through the impressive and extensive archival collections with documents dating back to the 1530s up to the present day.

As part of the tour, Dr Farrugia explained the integral role and responsibilities of the National Archives in safeguarding the collective memory of the Maltese nation.

He highlighted the Archives’ duty to preserve and make accessible public records, maintain the National Register of Archives, inspect recordkeeping practices within public offices, acquire private records of national significance, and promote professional training for archivists and records managers.

Dr Farrugia also addressed the challenges faced by the National Archives, primarily the need for a centralised location outfitted with modern preservation technologies and the pressing need to shift perceptions towards the recognition of public records as citizens’ records.

Currently, the National Archives operates from four locations, including the Head Office in Rabat, the Court Tribunals Section in Mdina, the Gozo Section in Vajringa Street Victoria, and the Notarial Registers Archive in Valletta

Following the tour, the Ombudsman expressed his gratitude to Dr Farrugia and his team for their work, professionalism and dedication to protecting the National Archives for the future generations as a vital part of the cultural heritage country. He emphasised the role of the National Archives as a democratic institution.  He highlighted the importance of the preservation and access of public service documents to ensure transparency,

accountability, and respect for the rights of all.

The visit was concluded with the signing by the Ombudsman and the National Archivist of a Retention Policy for the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The document will ensure that the records of the Office of the Ombudsman are appraised correctly and that historically significant documents are transferred to the National Archives for long-term preservation.

Patxi Vera ha asistido el 27 de julio, a la concentración convocada por el Parlamento de Navarra en apoyo y solidaridad con todas las víctimas de la violencia contra las mujeres y ante los asesinatos machistas cometidos los días 8, 20 y 22 de julio. Durante el acto, que ha tenido lugar a las 12:00 a las puertas del Legislativo, las personas concentradas han guardado un minuto de silencio en memoria de las mujeres asesinadas en Logroño, León y Málaga.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has welcomed Liverpool City Council’s approach to, and progress on, overhauling and improving the way it handles complaints.

The Ombudsman was invited to carry out a full review of the council’s complaint handling procedures, as part of a raft of reviews prompted by government-appointed commissioners brought in to oversee the council’s performance.

Twelve months on from its report, the Ombudsman has been encouraged by the progress the council has made.

The Ombudsman’s review included a number of recommendations on how the council could improve. The recommendations were focused on streamlining multiple complaint processes to give people complaining a consistent experience, bringing more senior oversight of complaints and developing a way to ensure the council uses complaints to improve.

The council has developed a plan to respond to the recommendations. Actions progressed so far include work to bring three separate complaints teams together, training its staff and embedding complaints data into regular management reporting.

The Ombudsman has just published its latest annual complaints statistics for all councils. Data from it backs up the positive way Liverpool has approached the Ombudsman’s review.

In a quarter of cases the Ombudsman upheld, the Ombudsman agreed with the remedy the council had proposed to put things right when first responding to the complaint. This compares with an average of 10% for similar councils.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Paul Najsarek, said:

I am pleased with the way Liverpool responded to our review, giving us open access to its systems and staff. While we heard that good complaint handling was often down to individuals taking the initiative rather than a wholescale approach, the council did demonstrate a willingness and ability to change.

It is encouraging to hear the progress the council has made when considering and implementing many of the recommendations in last year’s review.

I now look forward to the council maintaining this momentum and pushing ahead with its improvement journey. Wholescale change such as that which Liverpool has pledged to undertake needs time to bed in to ensure it endures beyond the initial improvements the council has made.

Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, said:

I am really delighted with the positive feedback we have had from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

As part of our improvement journey, we are committed to being an open and transparent Council, accountable for our actions.

We are a large and complex organisation and will not get everything right, but we are determined to learn from our mistakes, put things right and put in place measures to prevent them happening again.

We are committed to continuous improvement and learning, which is why we invited the LGSCO to work with us.

Doppio appuntamento per la consueta azione di monitoraggio messa in atto da Giulianelli. All’incontro presso la Casa circondariale di Pesaro hanno partecipato anche il Presidente della Commissione regionale sanità, Nicola Baiocchi, e il consigliere regionale Giacomo Rossi

Doppio appuntamento per il Garante Giancarlo Giulianelli a Fossombrone e Villa Fastiggi di Pesaro nell’ambito della consueta azione di monitoraggio presso gli istituti penitenziari marchigiani. Nel primo caso è stato possibile visitare l’ala recentemente ristrutturata, il nuovo spazio che ospita la biblioteca e fare il punto sulle attività trattamentali. “Abbiamo avuto – sottolinea lo stesso Giulianelli – un riscontro senza dubbio positivo sia per quanto riguarda la logistica, sia sul versante delle attività che vengono svolte dai detenuti, come la realizzazione delle icone, degli origami e di piccoli lavori in legno. Attività che vanno incrementate e che intendiamo supportare”.

Seconda visita a Villa Fastiggi di Pesaro e in questo caso il Garante è stato accompagnato anche dal Presidente della Commissione regionale sanità, Nicola Baiocchi, e dal consigliere regionale Giacomo Rossi. “Una struttura – commenta Giulianelli – che negli spazi esterni si presenta ben curata, e per questo abbiamo fatto i complimenti al nuovo Direttore Palma Mercurio ed al Comandante della Polizia penitenziaria Nicandro Silvestri, mentre all’interno annovera alcuni problemi strutturali che appartengono anche ad altri istituti, con infiltrazioni d’acqua e sfaldamento delle pareti, per i quali occorrerà necessariamente intervenire al fine di ripristinare la salubrità dei luoghi. Come ovvio è stata affrontata anche la questione del sovraffollamento, che in maniera ciclica va ad interessare la Casa circondariale pesarese”.

Il Garante e i consiglieri hanno preso l’impegno di tornare a Villa Fastiggi per un monitoraggio più attento della sezione femminile, unica nelle Marche, che al momento ospita 27 donne e per verificare la possibilità di porre in essere ulteriori attività trattamentali. Altro impegno quello per la realizzazione di uno spazio da adibire a palestra.

A.Is.