Ministers have agreed to bring forward plans to deal with complaints about government services.

They've accepted an amendment to the budget from the Corporate Services scrutiny panel.

It asked the Council of Ministers to 'fully consider consultation results when considering an appropriate way forward in the establishment of a Public Services Ombudsman'.

It also requested Ministers bring forward proposals for States approval during 2025.

Assistant Minister Deputy Moz Scott will be writing the plans, which are thought to go one of three ways: keeping the current States of Jersey Complaints Panel, introducing a Public Services Ombudsman, or coming up with a hybrid version of the first two options. 

Jersey Law Commission has published a report walking through the different options, which it hopes will influence Deputy Scott and the Council of Ministers with making the decision.

Andrew Le Sueur is from the independent body, that wants politicians to choose an ombudsman going forward.

He tells Channel 103 this is for two main reasons - accessibility and privacy:

"We're really pleased that in the last two months they (the SOJ Complaints Panel) have gotten an email address and a phone number, but previously you had to write in with a letter to the Greffier of the States to get your complaint looked at.

"We think that a professional ombudsperson organisation would have a much higher profile and islanders would know where to go if they had a problem.

"At the moment if you go to the Complaints Panel and they can't resolve the matter informally, there's a public hearing where you have to go - usually to the States building  - and present your case. 

"The news media could be there sitting at the back, anyone can attend and it's quite a daunting prospect, I think, for many islanders.

"The ombudsperson would work in a very different way. They would conduct a confidential investigation and, when they produce a report at the end, they make sure your name and personal details weren't included.

"We think this would give islanders more confidence in coming forward."

The volunteer Complaints Panel has also previously spoken out about the government being 'too slow' at responding to complaints.

The team, which received 12 new cases to review last year, said being slow to respond to complainants is a 'recurring theme' and that it 'exacerbated situations where there was already a breakdown of trust'.

The establishment of an ombudsman office has been talked about for decades, and in 2018 the States Assembly voted in favour of the principle of replacing the Complaints Panel with a JPSO. 

Andrew Le Sueur does acknowledge that, while he thinks choosing an ombudsman is the best option, politicians do have a difficult choice on their hands: 

"We think an ombudsperson is better, but ultimately it is up to the Council of Ministers and the States Assembly to decide whether it is a good use of taxpayers' money to set up a professional ombudsperson scheme.

"The cost of that is estimated as somewhere between £400,000 - £1,000,000 a year which is clearly a lot of money."

Detailed proposals are due to be brought forward at some point next year.