During October we
- responded to 57 enquiries
- made 45 decisions
- 5 community care grants
- 40 crisis grants
- upheld 2 (40%) of community care grants and 11 (28%) of crisis grant
- signposted 46 additional callers to other sources of assistance. Of these, 78% had contacted us in error instead of their local council. A further 15% reported accessibility challenges when contacting their council, such as the council not having a freephone number or difficulties applying online
- received 17 enquiries from council staff seeking support
Policy into Practice Award
We’re thrilled to share that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has been shortlisted for the Policy into Practice Award at the Scottish Public Service Awards 2025!
This award recognises projects that turn public policy into meaningful impact for citizens.
Our team’s Spotlight Report on the Scottish Welfare Fund’s High Most Compelling (HMC) Priority Rating uncovered significant inconsistencies in how the fund was delivered locally, negatively affecting some of the most vulnerable people in society.
By presenting these findings alongside real-life case studies, we highlighted the human impact to policymakers. Following publication, the Scottish Government awarded £20 million in additional funding to local authorities.
Engagement
This month we launched a new project with a pilot group of councils to explore how insights from SWF data can support learning and drive improvement. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be working together to develop improvements to reviewing and reporting on data.
Case studies
We changed several decisions this month after identifying errors in the council’s award calculations. Read about these in the searchable case directory on our website.