In this section, we consider situations where a person’s engagement with us is such that an unfair or disproportionate amount of resource is being used. These situations need to be addressed. This section considers both how an organisation and individual staff members can respond to these situations by managing the engagement.
This section is aimed at individual staff to help them to deal with situations that they find personally difficult. In this context ‘difficult’ refers to anything which is making communication a problem. This could include factors which you may readily identify as difficult, such as anger or distress, but there may be other factors which are less easy to identify.
The relevant Model Complaints Handling Procedures (MCHPs) published by the SPSO across each sector require organisations to have in place a policy to deal with managing engagement.
The MCHPs do not prescribe a particular policy or approach. As a minimum, we would recommend that organisations should be able to demonstrate:
In our work with public organisations across Scotland the SPSO is frequently asked about how to respond to people who are complaining in a way that the organisations find difficult. This guide aims to help organisations and staff in these situations.
We laid 23 decisions before the Scottish Parliament this month. For more information, please click the link below.
Download the Ombudsman's overview (PDF, 507KB) or read it online (link is external). Media enquiries can be made by email or via our online form.
We have laid our Annual Report and Accounts for the year 2020-21 before the Scottish Parliament.
Highlights include:
3,130 public service complaints received (4,226 in total when including complaints carried over from last year) and 3,176 closed
61% of all investigated public service complaints upheld
740 recommendations made to public bodies, 52% being about learning and improvement
Please note that applications are now closed.
Are you interested in joining an organisation that enjoys challenge and strives for continuous improvement?
We are currently recruiting for Complaints Reviewers.
Further details and how to apply can be found here.
We assess cases to establish if there was maladministration, resulting in injustice or negative impact on the complainant. Maladministration can cover situations where people have been treated unfairly. This is not restricted to discrimination as defined in equalities legislation.
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) website explains what your choices are if you think you have been discriminated against. This includes information about the Equalities Advice and Support Service (EASS) who can give you advice and information. There are time limits for making a legal claim and if you are considering that option, you should take advice quickly.