A special survey conducted this year by the Office of the Ombudsman at the Office of the State Comptroller, which examined the service to the public in eight public bodies and analyzed 34,259 complaints over 5 years, determines: These are the bodies with the lowest level of service: In the overall score – the Population Authority. In the public reception centers and on the internet – the Israel Land Authority. Over the telephone – the Population Authority.
About 100 standards were also published for the public service, constituting a "road map" that all the public bodies in Israel must adopt in order to improve the service that they provide to Israeli citizens.
State Comptroller and Ombudsman Matanyahu Englman: "Israeli citizens are paying high taxes that finance the public sector. The public servants must provide the best, efficient and welcoming service to every person. For the first time, our office is publishing a report on the service to the public with scores in the various service indices of the main public bodies. The director of the Population Authority and the director of the Israel Land Authority must carry out a thorough inspection in view of the low scores they received. The obligation to provide good service is sharpened all the more so during the Swords of Iron War, when hundreds of thousands of citizens are under a constant threat and need the help of government bodies".
Today, Tuesday, November 26th, 2024, State Comptroller and Ombudsman Matanyahu Englman published a special report on the service to the public by public bodies, after an examination of 34,259 complaints regarding service to the public, which were investigated over five years by the Office of the Ombudsman at the Office of the State Comptroller. About one third of the complaints investigated by the Office every year deal with service to the public – a figure indicating the centrality of the matter from the public's point of view.
What is service to the public? The manner in which a public body provides those applying to it with the services and the rights that it is obliged and required to provide them with. For example:
· How the body handles the inquiries addressed to it – the processes of handling inquiries and requests and the provision of a response to them, including claims of failing to provide a response, delays in the handling of inquiries and requests, an insufficient response.
· The service in the telephone call center and the public reception centers.
· The conduct of public servants and the appropriate attitude vis-à-vis those applying.
· Complaints about defects in the issuance of permits and certificates.
· The manner of handling the documents submitted to the authorities.
And more.
The special report on service to the public includes data analysis of the complaints on service to the public from 2019 to 2024. The results of the State Comptroller's index on the service to the public in the public reception centers, the call centers and the websites of selected bodies, as well as a specification of about 100 standards for public service that have been formulated on the basis of many years of experience in handling of public complaints about the service they received.
Part 1: Results of the quality of service index – made by the Office of the Ombudsman at the Office of the State Comptroller
From February to March 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman at the Office of the State Comptroller examined various aspects of service to the public in selected public bodies by means of surveys using the "mystery customer" method. The examinations were conducted at the public reception centers, at the call centers and on the websites of the selected bodies.
The bodies that were surveyed are:
The National Insurance Institute; the Israel Tax Authority; the Population and Immigration Authority; the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety; the Israel Postal Company Ltd.; the New Amidar Company; the Israel Electric Corporation Ltd.; and the Israel Land Authority.
These bodies were surveyed after criteria for their selection had been formulated: Bodies about which the Office receives at least hundreds of complaints every year; they provide a service to the public on a national level; they have physical service centers in different districts, call centers and internet websites.
The survey was conducted as a pilot for the first time in the Office's history and was accompanied by statistical consultation.
Part 2: An analysis of complaints on the topic of service to the public from 2019 to 2024
During the report period (January 2019 to March 2024) the handling of 34,259 complaints submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman in various topics connected to the service to the public was completed.
During the report period, the rate of complaints regarding service to the public out of all the complaints investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman was 31.6%.
It is important to note that during the course of the Swords of Iron War (since October 2023) the Office has operated a hotline and even conducted dozens of tours of hotels housing evacuees and among groups of reserve duty soldiers, and has assisted many citizens, in particular among those living in the confrontation areas, who required assistance vis-à-vis the state authorities. Likewise, during the period at the beginning of COVID-19, there was an enormous increase in requests to receive service from certain bodies (such as the National Insurance) and the Office of the Ombudsman focused on assisting the hundreds of thousands of citizens who had applied to these bodies.
The rate of justified complaints and complaints that were rectified regarding service to the public during the report period was 57.9%. This rate is significantly higher than the general rate of the justified complaints and complaints that were rectified during the report period, which was 43.8%.
* * *
State Comptroller and Ombudsman Matanyahu Englman recommends that the bodies improve the call centers, which constitute a convenient alternative, including considering a response in different languages, improving the waiting times and allowing calls to be returned. Likewise, it is recommended to formulate an internal service level agreement (SLA) and provide the body's employees with the tools to uphold it. It is worthwhile remembering those people who find it difficult to navigate in the digital world and make services accessible to a variety of populations, including using simple and clear language and also allowing inquiries to be sent by electronic mail and not only via an online form, and to arrange for a pleasant and welcoming response. It is further recommended that the bodies' websites provide comprehensive information, in clear and simple language, and also allow actions to be performed by the public "self-service".
Standards:
Based on the data and relying upon the rich experience of the Office of the Ombudsman in investigating complaints in a very broad range of areas and from a wide variety of complainants from the entire spectrum of the population, we have formulated a list of about 100 standards for proper public service that constitute an unparalleled orderly and useful doctrine designed for the management of the public bodies, all the body's employees, and also for the general public. The main objective of the standards is to build a better public service for the customer.
The full list of the standards is set out in detail in the report. The list has been drawn up according to topics, in the form of simple and clear statements so that they can be used, in accordance with the vision of the Office of the Ombudsman at the Office of the State Comptroller, as a simple and accessible guide for all those employed in the important and significant work of the provision of public service in all areas, who are in contact with the public, and also for those handling the public complaints and inquiries.
- Highlights of Special Report