Outcomes - Selected Case Summaries
Categories
Understanding Legislative Authority
Investigation | 05 November 2019
Ministry of District Administration, Tourism & Transport
The complainant alleged maladministration on the part of the Public Transport Board (PTB) and its administrative arm, the Public Transport Unit (PTU), on the basis that there was an unreasonable delay in the agencies’ dealing with four complaints.
We found that the delays experienced by the complainant concerning the investigation of her complaints were unreasonable. We found that the process to lodge a complaint with the PTU was not properly documented, not readily available and far too onerous. The lack of written policies, processes or guidelines and internal systems for the decision-makers amounted to inefficient administration and constituted maladministration. We also found that the response received by the complainant from the PTB concerning her four complaints did not comply with the Cayman Islands Constitution Order, 2009, and was not administratively fair, constituting maladministration.
We recommended that the PTB and the PTU establish and document internal processes to ensure that the process of making a complaint is clear, well documented and simple to complete. We recommended that they update their website, to ensure that accurate information is available to the public concerning the complaints process, and educate all staff on the newly established processes for lodging and investigating complaints, to ensure consistency in their approach. We also recommended that the PTB and PTU provide the complainant with a written decision in relation to each of her complaints, including adequate reasons to support the decisions. We encouraged them to apologise to the complainant for the way in which her complaints were handled. We are monitoring this file to ensure that all of the recommendations are implemented.