Source: Office of the Ombudsman
Apologies, we have needed to update the figures in our media release. Please use this version.
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has published his half-yearly data on Official Information Act (OIA) and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) complaints.
The data covers the number of complaints received under each Act for the period 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023, as well as the number of complaints completed by the Ombudsman during this period.
The number of complaints received about the handling of requests by government agencies under the OIA was 759, a drop from 848 in the last six-month period. The top three types of complaints were refusals in full (187), partial refusals (179), and delays in making a decision (158).
Of the total received, 612 were from individuals, 81 from media and 66 from other sources.
A total of 54 complaints were received about school boards between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2023 with 28 of those complaints relating to delays in making decisions or inadequate responses.
There was also a significant proportion of complaints about school boards in the previous six months (between 1 January and 30 June 2023) when 84 complaints were received including two bulk requests involving a number of schools.
There were 237 complaints under the LGOIMA between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2023, up on the last six-monthly period when 174 complaints were received.
Of the 237 LGOIMA complaints received, 201 were from individuals, 25 from media and 11 from other sources.
The top three types of complaints were delays in making decisions (76), refusals in full (52) and partial refusals (42).
Complaints data
About the data
The data released by the Ombudsman concerns both OIA and LGOIMA complaints received and completed from 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023. It includes information on the number of complaints received by Minister or agency, the nature of the complaint and type of complainant (media, private individual, etc). For the complaints completed, the data also includes the outcome of the complaint.
The data does not enable a direct comparison among agencies, as complaints data on its own does not give the full picture. The number of complaints received by the Ombudsman may be a very small proportion of the total number of OIA or LGOIMA requests received by an agency.
Shortly after the Ombudsman publishes complaints and outcomes data, the Public Service Commission publishes its own data on OIA requests received by agencies and their response times.
