After coming under attack in an Ombudsman's report for being unresponsive, the Ministry of Finance has failed to respond to all questions about the matter for the past three days.

Arlene Brock's 2007 report highlighted how Government Employees Health Insurance spent so long ignoring a daughter's attempts to get her sick mother's medical expenses refunded that the mother died in the interim.

Ms Brock also pointed to pensioners who fell victim to incredibly long delays at the hands of the Department of Social Insurance — one of whom ended up receiving $40,000 following an appeal hearing prompted by the Ombudsman.

Both departments are overseen by the Ministry of Finance. On Monday, The Royal Gazette contacted the Ministry's media relations officer to ask whether it was taking on Ms Brock's recommendations to become more responsive. We received no reply.

We put the same question to the spokeswoman on Tuesday, and again received no response.

Yesterday, we asked it once more, and added: "Do you think the Ministry's failure to offer any kind of response to these questions is an example of the unresponsiveness which Ms Brock highlights in her report?"

We received no response.

Better communication has come from the Department of Planning, which was also accused of a lack of transparency by Ms Brock.

Although full comment has not yet been provided, the Ministry of Environment has provided regular progress reports throughout the week.

Its spokesman said in a statement yesterday: "The Department of Planning takes the Ombudsman's report very seriously.

"However, due to a number of ongoing projects and the desire to expedite planning applications, the Department Director has been unable to review the report fully and so is not in a position to comment on the findings at this time. A detailed response will be made in due course."

The Ministry of Works and Engineering, which was called out for its poor system of recording work, has not provided this newspaper with a response to the Ombudsman's comments, although at least its media relations officer has acknowledged our questions.

It comes as The Royal Gazette continues its A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign, which calls for Premier Ewart Brown to increase openness in Government and public bodies by restoring public access to information (PATI) legislation to the top of the Progressive Labour Party's agenda.

What are your experiences, good or bad, of responsiveness from Government departments? E-mail us at arighttoknow@royalgazette.bm or call 278-0155 or 278-8359.