SPSO Complaints Handling Conference 2025

Paul McFadden, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Paul took up the role of Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on 20 October 2025. Previously, Paul was the Chief Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales from 2021, providing independent investigation and oversight of legal services and delivering significant transformation. With almost two decades of senior experience in Ombudsman and investigation roles in Scotland and across the UK, Paul brings a deep understanding of public sector oversight to the SPSO 

He previously served as Acting Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) and Local Government Commissioner for Standards, with oversight of Northern Ireland’s public services and local government conduct, after serving as Deputy for four years. Paul established and headed up the SPSO’s Complaints Standards Authority from 2010 to 2016, leading SPSO’s work to improve culture and complaints handling across Scotland’s public bodies.

Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Edinburgh

Benjamin worked for 10 years as a local authority social worker before moving into the voluntary sector, where he has held a number of senior management roles. Before taking on his current role as Chief Executive for Citizens Advice Edinburgh in 201, he held senior roles at ChildLine, the NSPCC's Schools Services and Capability Scotland.

As well as being an independent and impartial advice provider, Citizens Advice use the knowledge and intelligence gathered from the issues impacting their clients’ lives, to amplify their voices and campaign for changes to policy and legislation at a corporate, local and national government level. Benjamin is a strong advocate for social justice and human rights.

Nikki Bridle, Chief Executive, Clackmannanshire Council 

Nikki was appointed as Chief Executive of Clackmannanshire Council in 2018 and provides results driven leadership, strategic direction, and effective management. 

She has over 35 years of public sector experience in Scotland and England, and was previously Depute Chief Executive at the Council. Nikki joined Clackmannanshire in 2010 as Director of Finance and Corporate Services, having previously held senior roles at Audit Scotland, County and Unitary Councils, and scrutiny bodies. 

Nikki has a strong focus on driving improvement and has delivered significant levels of consultancy and value added work.

Dorothy Armstrong, Lead Adviser, SPSO

Dorothy is Lead Adviser to SPSO and Director of DA Professional. Her passion is to ensure that people are at the heart of service experience, in an environment where those both giving and receiving services are valued and appreciated. 

A graduate of Nursing and an Honorary Fellow, Dorothy is proud to have worked in the NHS as a Director in nursing management and education. She is an Honorary Nurse Consultant in a large teaching hospital and Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Jeremy Darot, Head of AI and Data Science, Scottish Government (panel chair)

Jeremy is an engineer and scientist by training. He has worked in a variety of fields and sectors, from airline revenue management in the private sector, to cancer research in academia. In government, Jeremy has held policy and data roles, including leading the development and delivery of Scotland’s AI Strategy, and statistical advice in the First Minister’s COVID-19 Briefing Unit.

Amy Walker, Innovation Project Manager, NHS Forth Valley

Amy graduated from Heriot-Watt University with Honours in the First Class in Management with Business Law (MA) and spent her formative career in the private sector. She has been working within NHS Scotland for the past 12 years, at both national and board level, in facilitation and project management roles. She is presently working within the Innovation Team in NHS Forth Valley; which focuses on driving whole system transformation and disruptive innovation through the identification of priority innovation challenges and opportunities, ensuring continued support to the acceleration of digital services and innovation to improve outcomes and experiences.

Kevin Roy, General Manager, Customer Excellence & Resilience, Scottish Water

Kevin is a senior leader at Scottish Water. He has a strong track record in customer excellence, operational resilience, and transformational change. He leads teams across control, maintenance, and customer service functions to deliver high-quality, efficient, and secure water and wastewater services. 

He has driven major improvements, including Scottish Water’s Field Service Transformation, generating over £4.3 million in annual benefits, and record customer satisfaction results. He oversees a £170 million asset maintenance programme, enhancing reliability and reducing environmental impact. 

As a Non-Executive Director at the Water Regulations Approval Scheme, Kevin provides strategic challenge and governance oversight. Known for collaborative leadership and focus on people, safety, and sustainability, Kevin is passionate about delivering lasting value for customers and communities.

One of the SPSO's responsibilities is to set and monitor complaints handling standards for the public sector in Scotland. These standards are published as the Model Complaints Handling Procedures (MCHPs).

Read more on the MCHPs

We are committed to supporting everyone who engages with us in a positive and respectful way, so we can provide the best possible level of service. Our policy explains how we will interact with people and approach challenging situations.

Read the SPSO Respectful Engagement Policy 

We have created Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles and Process Guidance to help organisations implement the Model Complaints Handling Procedure in a way that upholds children’s rights under the UNCRC.

Read more on Child Friendly Complaints

This policy sets out how we will use our statutory powers in a structured way to promote improvement by encouraging good practice or addressing poor performance by an organisation under our jurisdiction. It offers clarity to public bodies regarding what to expect from us, how and when. 

Read more on SPSO's Support and Intervention Policy

Our Vulnerabilities Guidance is designed to ensure fair and accessible complaint handling for people who access our service and may experience vulnerability.

Please note, this is internal guidance for SPSO that we are sharing externally as a practice example for public service organisations.

Read SPSO's Complainants with Vulnerabilities Guidance

We recently laid our Annual Report for the year 2024-25 before the Scottish Parliament. It includes our performance in more detail, setting out achievement against key performance indicators, our corporate governance report and our financial statements.

Read the SPSO's Annual Report 2024-25