2017 Report: 41,000 requests, 7800 new complaints instructed, Social Protection leads complaints

In 2017, the Ombudsman received a total of 40 939 requests through the various channels available to citizens, almost 7% more than in the previous year. The total number of complaints received amounted to 9,333, 10% more than in 2016. The complaints that gave rise to the opening of new procedures, withdrawing those that were found not to be the responsibility of this State agency and those sent for other entities, totaled 7789, an increase of 13%.

These are some of the data contained in the Report to the Parliament 2017 (only available in Portuguese).

Individuals remained the main complainants (96.6% of the total), most of them men (55.3%).
The filing deadlines were shortened again: 59% of cases were closed in less than 90 days and 86% were closed for up to one year, compared with 49% and 85%, respectively, in 2016.

Social protection issues remained the most recurrent in citizen complaints. In 2017, there was a significant increase (37%), resulting in 2052 cases, which is equivalent to 26.4% (more than one in four) of the total number of procedures opened at the Ombudsman’s Office during the year. Following are the complaints concerning the Public Employment Relation and Taxation. These three areas accounted for more than half (54%) of the total number of complaints that gave rise to the opening of new cases in 2017.

The most targeted entities in the complaints continued to be the Indirect and Autonomous Administration (with emphasis on the Social Security Institute), followed by the Central Administration (led by the Ministry of Finance) and Local Administration (the concerned).