Despite what some people in certain Government departments might think, Arlene Brock isn't an ogre.

But any public bodies who think the Ombudsman is going to ease off from ruffling feathers in her quest for greater accountability have got another thought coming.

Ms Brock — whose 2007 annual report called out a number of Government branches for a lack of responsiveness and transparency — goes about her business with one ideal at the forefront of her mind: public bodies must serve the public.

And that's the message she'll continue to press home, particularly when her own attempts to do just that are hampered by the very unresponsiveness she's trying to combat.

"I do remind folks that the public pay all of our salaries. Therefore, one of our jobs is to serve the public," she told The Royal Gazette.

She argues this newspaper was over-the-top to describe her report as "hard-hitting", although the Department of Planning — whose head Trevor Leach filed a lengthy response to her criticisms last week — may disagree.

It was Planning which attracted the most Ombudsman complaints during 2006-07, with Ms Brock pointing to the department's reluctance to keep people informed or accept its own mistakes.

"On one occasion it wrongly blamed a junior member of staff rather than put its hands up to an error.

The Ombudsman can empathise with the public's frustration, as while investigating the department's failings she found her own telephone calls and emails going unanswered.

Regarding these difficulties, she said: "When there are delays in responsiveness to us, I begin to feel guilty that we are perpetuating the disservice to the complainants. That makes me very concerned.

"When the complainant comes to us, they are at the end of the rope. I can't double that concern on their part. That's why I tend to appreciate getting more timely responses."

Problems within the Planning Department were not immediately obvious when Ms Brock was appointed Bermuda's first Ombudsman in 2005.

"In the first year of the Ombudsman, everyone is learning," she said. "I did not interpret any delay or apparent resistance as a problem of the department. I thought it part and parcel of learning about a new institution and how it works.

"However, by the summer of 2006, I had become aware that within the department my constant questioning had ruffled some feathers.

"I thought it would be helpful to try and offer each person in the department an opportunity to meet the Ombudsman, so they would understand I was not an ogre and to understand the role of the Ombudsman.

"That was helpful, and Bermuda Public Services Union kindly facilitated that.

"I do appreciate that at the department there has been some instability in terms of leadership until last spring, when a new full-time director came in place. It was difficult for acting folks to move toward a resolution.

"Quite a number of issues were delayed. It entailed my habit of having to re-explain things several times.

"I kept a record of how many phone calls, e-mails or other letters went out with respect to each particular complaint.

"There were repeated calls where I had to indicate I had to receive a response. I believe that that is being addressed."

In Planning's defence, she said: "In that particular department, they do have serious staffing issues. It's not just in Bermuda, I have chatted with Ombudsmen elsewhere.

"Planning is very technical, very time consuming. Bermuda is developing so quickly, there's so many things on their plate."

Mr. Leach has said the staffing issues are now being addressed.

Asked if people had given the impression they think she's an ogre, Ms Brock replied: "None of them actually came out with that.

"I'm doing my job. If everyone were singing Kumbaya I probably would not be. I think people recognise it.

"In 98 percent of the time, people understand that that's the nature of the job, to make inquiries, to ask uncomfortable questions, to dig below the surfaces of responses.

"I don't make approaches or comments without having thought about it very carefully, without a sense of how Ombudsmen do it elsewhere. I have a sense of what's the best practice."

Mr. Leach has pointed out how, out of thousands of Planning applications, only a handful attracted complaints that went to the Ombudsman.

On this point, Ms Brock said: "I'm also aware of other situations where people have given up, or where people keep trying themselves without coming to the Ombudsman.

"We have had a couple of cases where complainants did not want to give their name.

"On one occasion, a complainant withdrew a case because they were concerned there might be some level of subtle retribution.

"I won't say there's a trend, but we are looking at that. A square inch of property in Bermuda is pretty valuable, so people are very concerned about what happens."

It wasn't just Planning that was shown up in Ms Brock's report.

She said Government Employees Health Insurance was so unresponsive that an elderly woman died while her daughter waited for it to return her calls regarding medical expenses.

Meanwhile one elderly man ended up receiving $40,000 in owed pensions following incredible delays by the Department of Social Insurance.

And the Human Rights Commission was so slow processing a sexual harassment complaint that the Department of Public Prosecutions was timed out — meaning the case could never reach court.

The report provides descriptive accounts of each of the instances, although no complainants are named.

Further protecting against any identification, Ms Brock declines to talk about any examples.

Overall, Ms Brock — now two and a half years into her eight-year tenure — said it was too early to draw any conclusions about attitudes within Government departments.

"I still think it's too early to talk in terms of trends," she said. "We are looking at the cases as they come up to determine if they are trends.

"Maybe next year we will have a better sense of it because we are beginning a trend analysis."