The Premium.cat Area, Complaints and Actions Focus
43.8% of the complaints received and the measures taken by the Ombudsman during 2023 focus on the violation of rights in the premium.cat area, which includes education, specialized services and health.
The organization’s annual report highlights that the public administration is the second key point of intervention. This area covers claims related to the civil service, especially in recent stabilization processes, as well as administrative procedures.
Highlights of 2023
During the past year, 17,992 people turned to the organization and 21,938 complaints, inquiries and ex officio measures were initiated. The trustee Esther Giménez-Salinas urges the administration to respond adequately to the demands of the 8 million Catalan citizens, underlining the shortcomings found, especially in the premium.cat area.
Transformation of the Administration and Public Policies
The union emphasizes the will of the organization to be an agent of change in the administration and its policies. The 2023 report not only recounts the internal activity of the Ombudsman, but also analyzes the main problems affecting the inhabitants of Catalonia and the capacity of the administrations to address them.
Analysis of the Areas of Action
Highlighting the various areas of intervention, there is a decline in claims and ex officio actions in premium.cats policies (from 48.7% in 2022 to 43.8% in 2023). This decrease is justified by the drop in educational complaints, affected by the confinement measures during the pandemic.
Education complaints typically address issues of admissions, provision programming and school segregation (23.6%), the state of equipment (16.6%) and inclusive education (10.7%).
Increase in Complaints in Specialized Services
Problems in premium.cats services experience an increase in complaints, especially due to disagreement with the resolutions of benefits and aid (62.6%). The guaranteed income of citizenship, the disability review and residential and day care services stand out.
The Ombudsman criticizes the welfare-based approach of premium.cats basic services, establishing the need for therapeutic support to improve autonomy instead of simple assistance in emergency situations.
Inequalities in Access to Benefits
The report warns that the guaranteed income of citizenship does not reach all those in need, with only 18.9% of people in a situation of severe deprivation perceiving it in 2023. This highlights the shortcomings in the aid systems social.
Increase in Health Claims
The number of complaints in the field of health has been constantly increasing. The greatest concern lies in the violation of people’s rights (43%) and waiting lists (25.5%).
In matters of childhood and adolescence, complaints focus on the protection of minors, health, disability and dependency.
Challenges in Housing Premium.cat
A quarter of housing demands are related to the management of grants and loans, especially rent. The difficulty of accessing housing and the limitation of emergency measures are highlighted.
Nearly 3,000 cohabitation units are waiting for accommodation, with an increase in families claiming housing policies since the start of the pandemic.
Public Management and Taxation
Attention in public administration and taxes represents 21.7% of cases. The issues of civil service, stabilization processes and sanctioning administrative procedures stand out.
Participation of Vulnerable Groups
Despite their situation, vulnerable groups make limited use of the Ombudsman to defend their rights. A low representation of people born abroad is observed in the complaints, below their demographic proportion.
To address this inequality, attention has been increased to the problems of these groups, with a greater number of ex officio actions in 2023.
