2014 Annual Report of the Appeals Officer Appointed under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2013
The first report of the Independent Appeals Officer is now available.
The report covers the time period 21st February 2014 to 31st January 2015. During that time, the Appeals Officer, who is completely independent of Caranua, completed consideration of 38 appeals. In 31 or 82% of appeals, the decision of Caranua was upheld, 10% were referred back to Caranua for further action and in three (8%) cases Caranua itself revised its decision in light of new information submitted to the Appeals Officer. Sixteen of the appeals related to eligibility to apply for assistance to Caranua and the remainder related to refusals for certain services or items.
In his report, the Appeals Officer makes a number of comments on the decisions made by Caranua and the manner in which they were communicated to applicants, including delays in issuing decision letters, and on expanding the range of services allowable under the current criteria.