The advent of the Office of the Ombudsman in 2005 was hailed as “historic” for Bermuda.

Twenty years after Arlene Brock was sworn in as the island’s first Ombudsman, the community’s public authority watchdog has made a pitch to the Government for more staff in 2026 — and seeks to raise its profile in the process.

The Royal Gazette spoke with Michael DeSilva, the Ombudsman, and investigations officer Aquilah Fleming, who has been acting as Deputy Ombudsman, as the office celebrated 20 years in operation.

Mr DeSilva said “if you just do the maths and compare our size with comparable departments”, there was a good case for approving its budget request for a boost of two more to its staff of six.

“The Human Rights Commission has seven. The Information Commission has eight and the Privacy Commission has 14 staff.”

Ms Fleming added: “If you were to compare how many complaints come in each year, we would get the most.”

When it comes to the office’s job of investigating and resolving complaints, the extra resources would contribute to “the quality of dealing with cases” and boosting the public’s trust in institutions, Mr DeSilva said.

“When a complaint comes to us, it’s not a yes or no. That’s a feature, but there are other aspects of fairness. How does a department or authority actually treat complaints?”

There could be no bad management, he said, but a department might be ducking someone’s calls or refusing to put answers in writing.

“There’s no maladministration but the way they’re being treated is unfair,” Mr DeSilva said. “There’s a lot of work for us to do.

“These are labour-intensive inquiries or investigations. They take time, they take people, and we’re trying to be impactful and make a difference. The last thing we want to do is take month after month, but sadly that takes place.”

As for more resources next year, Mr DeSilva said he was “optimistic, because I think they see the value of what we do”.

“We don’t advocate for complainants. We don’t advocate for departments or defend them; they can do that for themselves. Part of our work is to raise public confidence in public services.”

The office, which held a reception celebrating its 20 years, is also keen to get a better picture of public support in 2026.

“Nothing too fancy,” Mr DeSilva explained. “Just straightforward surveying. Do people know about us? Do they have confidence?

“I’d say our profile has definitely risen over the years but the depth of what we do might not be out there, and we could do more in terms of sharing our casework. We’ve generally only done that by way of our annual reports.”

Mr DeSilva took over the job from his predecessor, Victoria Pearman, in March 2022 while Ms Fleming joined in 2014.

As a former Commissioner of Police, the rumours that Mr DeSilva was next in line as Ombudsman proved controversial for some.

In February of 2022, Derrick Burgess, the former Deputy Speaker of the House, rose in the House of Assembly to criticise the move.

Mr Burgess named no names, but he declared himself “taken aback” and concerned that Government House intended “to appoint the former police commissioner as the Ombudsman”.

Mr DeSilva said this month that the move had simply been a natural progression.

His retirement from the police service in 2018 had nothing to do with age, but length of tenure, he said.

At 51, after a 33-year police career, nine of them as commissioner, he “took early retirement because that chapter had closed”.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” he added.

Mr DeSilva was asked to direct security for the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club by “people who thought it would be a good fit”.

He had never worked in the private sector before.

Things changed when he saw the Ombudsman’s job advertised. It aligned nicely with his background, he said.

“My heart is in public service and this position offered a very unique way to return.”

Mr DeSilva said there was initially scepticism over his lack of legal training — but having a lawyer’s background was not a prerequisite.

He said: “It’s not about advocating on legal issues. It’s about understanding and applying them to determine what’s the fair outcome. I’ve been trained to do that my whole career, that’s what we do in policing.”

Ms Fleming said: “The Ombudsman investigates complaints of maladministration against public authorities. It’s that simple.”

The 2004 Act defines such bodies as entities created by an Act of Parliament that derive their revenue from the legislature or that are authorised by the legislature to charge a fee.

This means some charities fall under the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and bodies that consistently get government grants, including some sports clubs. The Travel Authorisation Forms used during the Covid-19 pandemic were eligible for the Ombudsman to investigate.

Ms Fleming described the office as a service of inquiry rather than vindication. The Ombudsman’s recommendations do not wield binding power.

She added: “It forces us to rely on persuasiveness and logic.”

In most cases, public authorities turn out to be “just as invested in resolving matters as the complainant”.

As the authority of last resort, sometimes the Ombudsman’s office is able to point people to an existing means of redress that might have been overlooked.

Ms Fleming said: “We do pride ourselves on knowing what’s available — and doing our research on whether or not there’s an existing avenue.”