GENERAL STATE OF THE OFFICE Jens Møller Director General GENERAL STATE OF THE OFFICE The Ombudsman has implemented two initiatives aimed at improving the quality of the institution’s work: a user survey and an evaluation panel. The idea behind both initiatives is that the ongoing development of the quality of the ­Ombudsman institution’s work should to a greater extent be the result of a dialogue with the rest of the world. The Ombudsman’s legal conception in headline cases is frequently discussed by the public and at times also the subject of political and academic debate. However, the underlying daily work in the form of complaint case ­processing, inspection activities etc. does not attract similar attention. ­Moreover, the ­Ombudsman’s own case processing, unlike that of many other public ­institutions, is not subject to external monitoring and control. These factors point towards greater user involvement in the development of the quality of the institution’s work. In addition, a number of quality improving initiatives in ­connection with the institution’s language and design project are primarily linked to user considerations. The user survey should therefore also be seen as part of the follow-up on that project. The purpose of the user survey is to give a more detailed picture of how the ­users of the office perceive the Ombudsman’s activities. The survey ­comprises five sub-­surveys: citizens’ perceptions of the complaint case ­processing, ­authorities’ ­perceptions of the complaint case processing, the inspection ­activities of the office, the Ombudsman’s website and the Ombudsman’s e­ lectronic ­newsletters. The ­survey is carried out by the consultancy company Kalus (now Meng ­Institute ApS), primarily by means of questionnaires sent to different user groups. The consultancy company presents the results of the surveys in reports to the ­Ombudsman and they are communicated to the office’s personnel on a regular basis. In 2010, Kalus completed the user surveys concerning the Ombudsman’s ­website and electronic newsletters. These two surveys look at various aspects of the Ombudsman’s electronic communication with the rest of the world. The other three surveys focus mainly on citizens’ and authorities’ perceptions of the case 15