Mr. Ger Deering:

As I mentioned, the strategic plan from 2018 set its target as improving and enhancing the customer experience. That was a recognition that it was taking longer than we had wanted for complaints to be dealt with. Over the period of the three years, we have put in place specific key performance indicators, KPIs, to measure our performance in that area. In 2019, as part of that process, we set a KPI of closing 6,000 complaints in 2020. In March last year, as we saw all of our staff depart the office with a laptop under their arms, and we sent them a mobile phone afterwards, we worried that that KPI would not be achieved. I am proud to say that the staff really rallied to the cause and we did actually achieve it.

How we have improved the service and what we laid out clearly in that strategic plan is that we would put in place measurable KPIs and regular measurement by that, by the senior management, as well as by the council. There is the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council and it is responsible for oversight of the operation of the office and the efficiency and the effectiveness of the office. We went to the council in 2018 seeking additional resources to deal with some of the complaints that we knew we were taking too long to deal with. The council gave us the additional resources but looked for what I would call challenging KPIs, as it was entitled and should do. We came back with the challenging KPIs and we have actually managed to deliver on those. There is no doubt but that the service is better and faster than it was.

To answer the Deputy's question on the next strategic plan, we will ramp up in the next strategic plan and evolve further. We hold others to account in the context of the quality of the service they provide to their customers and we are conscious that we, too, must provide a good service to our customers. While I believe the vast majority of our customers get an excellent and fast service, we want everybody to benefit from that service.