The Draft Plan set out our high-level key objectives for the next four years. As with previous plans, this Plan will be used to drive continuous improvement in the services that we provide to our stakeholders.

The five strategic objectives that we presented constitute our high-level Plan and under it will sit business plans for each year. The same values of independence, accountability, accessibility, efficiency, collaboration and diversity will continue to form a common thread through our work, underpinning all that we do. We are mindful of our responsibilities as a public body to fulfil our equalities obligations, and that we have a role in ensuring that bodies under our jurisdiction also fulfil their obligations.

The five strategic objectives reflect our current statutory obligations and the related core functions. In summary, these are:

• Providing a high quality, timely, independent case handling service
• Ensuring compliance with recommendations and publishing good practice from casework
• Facilitating good practice in complaints handling
• Simplifying complaints handling systems in Scotland
• Delivering continuous improvement in service and efficiency to SPSO.
   

The Plan set out how we proposed to achieve our objectives and a timetable and estimates of the costs of doing do. The Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Act 2010 required us to seek comment on the Plan.

The response form had seven questions relating to the Plan, including our equalities commitments.  We asked interested parties to respond by 14 March 2012. 

Where we have permission from the respondent to do so we have published these responses.    We also obtained an independent analysis of them, and prepared a document explaining the changes we have made  after considering them.  You can access all the documents and responses relating to the Draft Plan by clicking on the links on the right hand side of this page.

We published our Strategic Plan on 30 March 2012.  You can read it by clicking here.

We would like to thank those who helped us in this important work that will help guide the future of the SPSO.

If you have any questions, please contact Head of Policy and External Communications, Emma Gray, at egray@spso.org.uk and 0131 240 2974.