INVISIBLE HELP FROM THE OMBUDSMAN appeal, and whether the woman could (continue to) receive her compensation benefits. Before the Ombudsman can consider such questions, it is necessary that the relevant highest administrative authority, in this instance the National Social Appeals Board, has made a decision. This follows from section 14 of the Ombudsman Act. However, when the complaints landed on the Ombudsman’s desk, they caused us to wonder, and we could, after all, help the complainants bring the juridical problems into the light and get the cases to the right place. Here, the problems in all three cases were solved to the benefit of the complainants. As these examples show, the sharp distinction between substantively investigated cases and rejected cases is not always in keeping with reality, partly because the Ombudsman also intervenes in so-called rejected cases. We have therefore decided to change the statistics system, starting with the 2015 Annual Report, and to divide the cases into three main groups instead of the familiar two groups. Subsequently, the new statistics system will have the following main groups: - Investigations - Other forms of processing and assistance to citizens - Rejection for formal reasons Cases such as the three mentioned above where the Ombudsman intervenes will in future be listed statistically in the main group of ‘Other forms of processing and assistance to citizens’. The main group ‘Investigations’ will consist of cases where the Ombudsman has carried out various investigations and assessments and will include those cases where the Ombudsman has carried out an in-depth investigation with a preceding hearing of the authorities involved. Hopefully, these new categories will provide a more adequate and modern reflection of the Ombudsman’s processing of the around 5,000 annual cases. 61