Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

±Scottish Ombudsman Watch (talk) 12:13, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) claims that they are there to provide abdministrative justice to the Scottish Public. The SPSO's own 2007 customer statisfaction survey reveals that this is not the case.

Use this link to download a copy of the [ORC International report titled “Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Complaint Satisfaction Survey 2007” dated February 2008 link]SPSO 2007 customer satisfaction survey.

This official SPSO report clearly demonstrates the failings of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman service

and the levels of DISSATISFACTION of the public who use this publicly funded service.

A total of 62% of the respondents felt the SPSO had not met their original expectations.

The most damming section in the report is where the respondents were asked to comment about “what areas work well or need to be improved”.

81% of the respondent’s comments fell into the following categories and were highly critical of the service provided by the SPSO.

1. Excessive time taken to deal with complaint 2. SPSO did not investigate properly / look into fully 3. Total disgrace / would never use again / complete waste of time / incompetent 4. Investigation was biased / public have no chance / never on complainants side 5. SPSO was no help / not interested / favoured the Council / there to fool the public 6. Very poor service / service badly structured 7. Staff not knowledgeable / unqualified 8. Stop avoiding / ignoring complaints / questions / issues 9. Nothing happened / no outcome / still no explanation 10. Waste of public funding 11. SPSO did nothing / did not take on the case 12. Complaints not dealt with / unfairly dealt with 13. Very poor / weak reasons for not investigating / dismissed without adequate explanation 14. SPSO afraid to deal with Council / will not take on Council / Council always wins 15. Not helpful / unhelpful / no support given 16. Investigation poor / fragmented / spasmodic 17. Decision based on Council’s say 18. SPSO exists only as a pretence / there is no complaint rights

The above comments were published by the SPSO and show how the public view their service. If you want to now more about how the SPSO treats the public then go to the www.scottishombudsmanwatch.org web site.Scottish Ombudsman Watch web site

Now read on and see how the SPSO view themselves!

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) was set up in 2002 as a 'one-stop-shop'. It replaced three previous offices - the Scottish Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, the Local Government Ombudsman for Scotland and the Housing Association Ombudsman for Scotland. The current Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is Professor Alice Brown[1]

The SPSO is responsible for looking at complaints made by individual members of the public about most organisations providing public services in Scotland including councils, the National Health Service, housing associations, the Scottish Government and its agencies and departments, universities and colleges and most Scottish public authorities.

The SPSO examines complaints where a member of the public claims to have suffered injustice or hardship as a result of maladministration or service failure. The SPSO is the 'last resort'; investigating cases after the complainant has already exhausted the formal complaints procedure of the organisation concerned. The complaint can be taken to the SPSO by visiting the office, in writing, by telephone or text message or via an online complaint form on the website. [2]

The SPSO aims not only to provide justice for the individual member of the public but also share learning from its work in order to improve service delivery across the public services spectrum in Scotland. The office carries out awareness-raising activities with the general public, and bodies under jurisdiction and promotes good complaints handling by public service providers in Scotland. The SPSO has a separate website devoted to this aspect of its work - [3]

The Ombudsman service is independent, impartial and free. The SPSO is not a watchdog or a regulator - its role is to give an independent and impartial decision on a complaint. The organisation operates under the legislative authority of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002. [4]

History

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 came into force in 2002 and outlined the Ombudsman’s role and terms of appointment. The Scottish Executive (now known as the Scottish Government) explained and reinforced the principle that the Ombudsman must remain independent from the bodies which she investigates.

The Ombudsman is appointed by Her Majesty, on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament, for a period not exceeding five years. The Ombudsman is eligible for a second term but re-appointment for a third term is allowed only if desirable in the public interest due to special circumstances. The Ombudsman may be relieved of office by Her Majesty upon request or following a resolution of the Scottish Parliament which, if passed on a division, must be voted for by at least two thirds of members.

In order to safeguard the independence of the SPSO, under the provisions of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002, in the exercise of the SPSO’s statutory functions, the SPSO is not subject to the direction or control of any member of the Scottish Government or the Parliamentary Corporation.

The Scottish Corporation pays the salary and expenses of the Ombudsman and any expenses incurred in the exercise of the Ombudsman’s function.

The Ombudsman is accountable to the Scottish Parliament, [5] and must lay an annual report and her investigation reports before the Parliament.

Process

Before taking a complaint to the Scottish Public Sevices Ombudsman the organisation being complained about must first be approached to give them an opportunity to resolve the complaint. Most organisations have a formal complaints procedure. An aggrieved member of the public must usually write to the body concerned to explain their dissatisfaction and how they wish their complaint to be resolved. A response should be issued within a specific timeframe. Some organisations will have more than one stage in their complaints procedure so there may be a series of responses between the complainant and the body before reaching the end of the process. If, after receiving the final response from the organisation, the person remains unhappy, they can contact the SPSO.

Complaints arrive at the SPSO in the form of letters, emails, texts, complaint forms and by telephone. The SPSO receives large numbers of enquiries and complaints which are not within its remit or not ready for it to look at – in these cases, members of the public are directed to the appropriate body or Ombudsman service. .

The SPSO Act 2002 states the Ombudsman’s powers, outlining what the Ombudsman can and cannot do. The Act stipulates that certain requirements must be met before it can investigate a complaint. There is a great deal of information on the SPSO website (www.spso.org.uk) that provides details of how complaints are considered and, if appropriate, investigated.

Reports of investigations that are laid before the Scottish Parliament are sent to the complainant, the body complained about and Scottish Ministers. The Ombudsman may make recommendations to the body to address failings identified in the investigation. The recommendations may be designed to provide redress to the individual complaint (for example, an explanation, an apology or re-imbursement of costs incurred as a result of the organisation’s fault), or to improve general working practices within the organisation (for example, a change in procedure). The Ombudsman accompanies the reports laid before the Parliament with a monthly commentary which summarises the reports and highlights any issues or trends to which she wishes to draw attention.

Powers

If an investigation finds maladministration or service failure, the Ombudsman may make recommendations to redress problems identified. In almost every case, organisations comply with the SPSO’s recommendations. If an organisation failed to implement recommendations the Ombudsman could lay a ‘special’ report before the Scottish Parliament highlighting any concerns.

External links

• The SPSO’s website
• The Scottish Public Services Act 2002
• Bringing a Complaint to the SPSO
• How to make a Formal Complaint
• Good Complaints Handling
• SPSO Monthly Reports
• The Ombudsman, Professor Alice Brown
• The SPSO is a member of BIOA – the British and Irish Ombudsman Association
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Parliament Corporate Body
• Crerar Review of Complaint Handling System in Scotland