The
2010 Annual Report describes how budget cutbacks and the lack of
administrative coordination violate people's rights |
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In the
presentation of the 2010 Annual Report to the President of
Parliament, Núria de Gispert, Catalan Ombudsman Rafael Ribó provided
examples of these infringements of rights in complaints received on
education, the Dependency Act and housing outlined in the
report.
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The
Catalan Ombudsman assisted over 31,000 people in 2010 |
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A total of
31,344 people addressed the Catalan Ombudsman with their affairs in
2010, nearly 3,000 more than in 2009.The 2010 Annual Report states
that 21,504 actions were begun throughout the year, which can be
broken down into 6,095 complaints (28%), 121 ex-officio actions
(0.5%) and 15,288 queries (71%). The number of cases opened in 2010
was higher than in prior years: complaints have risen by 2.6%, and
ex-officio actions by 15%.
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Suggestion
to eliminate the new tie-breaking criteria for students whose
parents, guardians or siblings have attended a given school
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The
Ombudsman finds that the criteria introduce discrimination based on
birth, do not favor access to quality education in conditions of
equality, could have negative effects on the equality of the
educational system and may contribute to reproducing inequalities of
certain social groups in school enrollment.
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The
Catalan Ombudsman's committee presents to Parliament the first
report from the Catalan Authority for the Prevention of Torture
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Rafael
Ribó appeared before representatives of the parliamentary groups to
present the work begun by the mechanism for torture prevention in
Catalonia in 2010. The Authority for the Prevention of Torture is
regulated by the Catalan Ombudsman Act of December, 2009. Among
other items, the report discusses the establishment of the Advisors
Council and task force, as well as the regulations governing the
Authority's activity.
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Suggestion
that the Municipal Government of Barcelona revise waste collection
fees assessed on self-employed professionals who have no business
structure |
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The
Catalan Ombudsman believes that, considering the waste they
generate, in most cases little or none, these professionals should
pay a collection fee for the amount generated, and not the
commercial rate, which is higher and bears an additional 8% of VAT.
He has also suggested adaptation of the municipal regulations for
there to be a scale of taxable waste volumes for professional
activities that are not comparable to retail or industrial
businesses. This scale of waste volume should be certifiable by
criteria that is real and direct, not indexed as it is now.
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