The ombudsman's report was received by the board, and we welcome the recommendations in the ombudsman's report and have taken measures to put into place responses to his recommendations.
I can address four of them. We placed a priority on decisions being returned by the Federal Court. We have established a task force with the Department of Veterans Affairs to deal with decisions coming from the Federal Court to identify any items that can be addressed. We have also established a working group to work on guidelines with our members in order to provide more plain-languaged and clear decisions. As I stated in my opening statement, those are to be in place by the end of the year.
With respect to the operation of the board, the board functions very well. We deal with many decisions. We have a very detailed instruction process for our members. Once they proceed and are appointed to the board, we have a 12-week training period. Before the board members sit on a case, they receive instruction on legal issues, administrative law, and the interpretation of medical opinions and evidence. As a result, I'm very confident that we have very knowledgeable and well-qualified administrative adjudicators.
They work in 30 locations across the country in rendering decisions so that veterans are well served in this country. In addition, the tribunal is supported by 85 full-time equivalents in Charlottetown, and they are very well qualified and very dedicated to all the work they do for veterans. They work tirelessly to ensure that the decisions we render provide veterans every entitlement that they are allowed under the law.