[ad_1]
Main debate: Annual report of the Ombudsman’s Office
Vienna (OTS / RK) – LAbg. Sabine Schwarz (ÖVP) thanked the Ombudsman for the work. She read and worked the reports with great attention. “If the city accepts all your advice, Vienna will be even better than before,” he told ombudsmen in the room. In his speech, Schwarz addressed a “taboo subject”: childcare outside the home. In Vienna, compared to other federal states, there are a lot of decreases in children. The Ombudsman insists on more outpatient measures on this issue; By analogy, Schwarz called for a “commitment to working with parents.” It also addressed the poor staffing situation in shared children’s flats (“They are too full, so intensive parental work no longer works”) and the contractual situation of foster adoptive parents. The situation in shared apartments is rightly criticized by the Ombudsman’s Office, and attention must also be paid to family repatriations of children: “If a child is allowed to return to the family, it must be done safely and carefully” Schwarz said. . Vienna responded to the persistent criticism from the Ombudsman “three times in a row” with the same modules of text and justifications, Schwarz said. “This is incredibly embarrassing,” Schwarz said, and shows that “nothing has been done systematically or in terms of content.” Schwarz also called for more support for nursing mothers in crisis. Nursing mothers and fathers in crisis are employed and insured in Vienna, but they have to be prepared to take in up to 5 children in the course of their employment relationship with the city, but they would have no say at the age of the children. They are often mothers who also have children of their own – “you can’t dictate, you can trust them to create whatever they set their minds to.” He filed a motion demanding that the employment model be evaluated and conditions improved.
LAbg. Mag. Marcus Gremel (SPÖ) thanked the Ombudsman’s Board: “With his work, he ensures that the administration takes a critical look at what it is doing and also gives politicians the opportunity to improve.” He responded to some criticism in the reports. In the case of home victims, for example, in the course of compensation and help to cope with the suffering they have suffered, the city of Vienna will endeavor to cover the costs of psychotherapy for those affected also in 2019 and 2020 The city of Vienna has extended the corresponding deadlines compared to, for example, the Church for those affected by city homes. In the case of the Ombudsman’s criticisms in the area of child and youth welfare, the ombudsmen would recognize the special position of Vienna as a big city and a metropolitan area. This differentiated consideration is necessary to find good solutions. The proportion of out-of-home care for children is comparatively high in Vienna, “but children are never taken out of families by pranks and frenzy,” Gremel emphasized: “Imagine something happens and the child and youth welfare service does not have a child separated from the family. ”Gremel recalled that the government program stipulated the intention to further expand the welfare of children and young people, both for outpatients and inpatients. More places are also planned in shared apartments and centers crisis, also more funds for family work. These measures were aimed at “that all children in Vienna can grow up in safety and security.” Young adults who have grown up in child and youth facilities would need “initial help” to give the move towards independence after completion due to the trauma they have experienced The Ombudsman is rightly demanding a me jor support and offers. These are already available in Vienna, for example, through easy access to a community apartment or the offer of additional care. “We have this group in sight,” said Gremel. An expansion of services is also planned here in the government program.
LAbg. Stefan Berger (FPÖ) also addressed the issue of sacrifice compensation at home. Vienna should follow the specific proposals of the Ombudsman’s Office, for example, regarding the free use of psychotherapy, which, according to Berger, only existed until 2016. The city of Vienna is retreating from the fact that victims could go to other offices in the city of Vienna, Berger said. As before, 500 applications from home victims are open for approval of a supplementary pension in 2020. He made a comparison with the Restitution Commission on art looted by the Nazis: “They have existed since 1999. The victims or, in the meantime, more often the heirs can still contact the commission, which also reports to the local council, “Berger said. Home victims should also have the same possibility of permanent support. He submitted a proposal for this. Berger also got into the subject of music schools in Vienna. Vienna is “very, very badly positioned, especially compared to other federal states.” There are more people interested in the lessons of the music schools in the city than the municipality could cover with its music schools or private operators. A mother also appealed to the Ombudsman Board because the music school’s semester fees had increased by as much as 113 percent from one semester to the next. He also criticized the scant annual funding for private music school providers; It is “incomprehensible” how the city of Vienna sets its priorities: there are three-year financing contracts with associations for integration, education or culture, but no longer-term contracts with private music schools. He filed an application demanding a music school funding law for Vienna.
Ing. LAbg. Erol Holawatsch, MSc (ÖVP) said: “Transparency is a popular word in politics, often demanded, promised and often impeded.” Transparency is impeded, for example, by the limited trial competence of the ombudsman in outsourced companies in the city. , according to Holawatsch. Public services, cemeteries or Wiener Linien cannot be controlled by the Ombudsman; consequently, there is no legal protection for citizens, Holawatsch said. He demanded the expansion of the audit powers of the city ombudsman’s office and audit office: they should be allowed to examine companies in which the city has a stake of more than 50 percent. The auditing skills of the Board of the Ombudsman and the City Audit Office would need to be evaluated and expanded. He submitted a proposal for this.
LAbg. Erich Valentin (SPÖ) stated that the discussions around the Ombudsman’s report had become less exciting compared to previous years. He appreciates the “control” of the Ombudsman’s Office, which is analogous to control in a company. The attention and criticism of the Ombudsman could be even more useful for politics and the administration, “if, for example, it is clear whether it is an individual case or a structural problem,” said Valentín. He would have looked more closely at various instances of the reports, for example about the order and validity of the parking tag or complaints about runners and sports enthusiasts in the central cemetery. Vienna seeks “pragmatic solutions” to problems and sometimes decides not to follow the recommendations of the Ombudsman Board. Sometimes a “discourse between examiners and examinees” makes sense if it pursues the goal of having more satisfied citizens, says Valentín. In general, according to Valentin, it can be observed that in the reports of the Ombudsman’s Office the number of “real complaints, that is, where many people get angry” has decreased. This is a sign that their work is good and that the dialogue is working, says Valentin.
LAbg. Veronika Matiasek (FPÖ) said that the Ombudsman’s Board is often the “last lifeline” for citizens after long conflicts with the authorities. He responded to individual reports, including one about complaints about walking in the cemetery. Mourners would be disturbed in their grief for the athletes. “I think it is good that you can walk quietly through cemeteries, but they are not sports facilities,” said Matiasek. You understand the opinion of the Ombudsman, who does not see cemeteries as sports facilities. He highlighted other complaints about cemeteries from the Ombudsman’s Board reports, among other things related to fees paid too much without a legal asset: after the Ombudsman’s Board intervention, the Friedhöfe Wien company now you have to bill the services more accurately. The Board of the Ombudsman also criticized the city of Vienna’s rejection of requests for support in special situations. “A rejection is particularly harsh for those affected, that should not happen,” demanded Matiasek. The formulations in the laws and guidelines should be clear to everyone, so that there can be no misunderstandings and the resulting difficulties. Matiasek also reported long wait times for treatment appointments at KAV (now WIGEV) hospitals, which were discussed in the Ombudsman’s Office reports – “long wait times for operations and treatments, all of which they go back to the time before the crown. ” crisis, “said Matiasek. (Cont.) Ato
Queries and contact:
Correspondence from the PID city council
Press and Information Service of the City of Vienna (MA 53)
City editor, shift editor
01 4000-81081
Dr@ma53.wien.gv.at
www.wien.gv.at/presse
