SPSO role and function

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has a wide remit covering a variety of functions and services. The Ombudsman's powers and duties come from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002, which gives her four distinct statutory functions:

1. the final stage for complaints about most devolved public services in Scotland including councils, the health service, prisons, water and sewerage providers, Scottish Government, universities and colleges
2. specific powers and responsibilities to publish complaints handling principles and procedures, and monitor and support best practice in complaints handling
3. independent review service for the Scottish Welfare Fund with the power to overturn and substitute decisions made by councils on Community Care and Crisis Grant applications
4. Independent National Whistleblowing Officer for the NHS in Scotland (INWO); the final stage for complaints about how the NHS considers whistleblowing concerns and the treatment of individuals concerned.

Who does what?

Leadership responsibility

• The Ombudsman has overall responsibility for the organisation, case decisions, actions under complaints handling powers, and is the accountable officer
• Our leadership team consists of the Ombudsman, Director, and the Head of Improvement, Standards and Engagement. They set the strategic direction of the organisation, and are responsible for governance, considering and approving policies and performance against strategic aims and objectives

Operational delivery by statutory function

These are enabled and supported by our Corporate Services team

First contact

• 6,811 calls
• 4,686 psc complaints assessed

Our Assessment and Guidance team are the first point of contact for our public service complaints service users. They handle enquiries and complaints received through

• Our freephone advice line
• Email and online complaint forms
• Post

The Assessment and Guidance team are instrumental in providing a supportive and empathetic first point of contact for the SPSO’s service users and are driven by our people centred values, treating people with dignity and respect, and being accessible by delivering a compassionate service.

Throughout 2023—2024, we completed a number of improvement activities that have developed the accessibility of our frontline service.

As demand for our service has increased, continuous learning and improvement to support efficiency has been critical to us in delivering our business. During 2023—24, the team have completed the following projects:

Improved efficiency of complaint assessment process

We completed development work on our casework management system, improving the complaint assessment process and streamlining the transfer of cases between staff. This has allowed us to continue to assess an increased volume of complaints promptly.

Online health complaint form

In December 2023, we launched a new online health complaint form. The form is designed to gather specific information related to complaints about health. Improving the capture of quality data at first contact helps our complaint reviewers to make an informed assessment of the complaint as early as possible.

We recognise that people who approach our service, particularly with health complaints, may have experienced or be experiencing trauma. Having to repeatedly explain their experience can be upsetting. Obtaining key information at first contact helps to reduce the risk of this and demonstrates our commitment to trauma informed practice.

Prison healthcare complaints

We can consider complaints from prisoners about their health care provision. Initially, prisoners should complain to the prison healthcare team and if they are unhappy with the response, progress their complaint to the relevant NHS board.

Many prisoners who approach the SPSO have not completed the complaints process and are unsure how to navigate it. To support understanding and access to the complaints process we have developed a leaflet with step-by-step guidance. This includes the NHS board address for each HMP establishment. These practical details help prisoners progress their complaint to the next stage at the correct time.

This information has also been shared with Families Outside, a national charity who support families affected by imprisonment.

Call reflection

We have the facility to record calls and we used some of these recordings to develop a call reflection process. With a colleague’s support, staff can assess their call handling to identify good practice and opportunities to improve skills and techniques.

Learning from call reflection exercises is also shared within the wider team to ensure continuous improvement.

Supporting complainants to access our services

Over the last few years, we have experienced a shift in how people access our service, with many more service users approaching us online. In response to this, we developed a step-by-step video for our website explaining how to make a complaint about a public service in Scotland.

We updated all of our correspondence to ensure that we maximise the opportunity to signpost complainants to this helpful resource. We often receive positive feedback on the guidance offered to complainants who have approached our office looking for advice on how to navigate public service providers complaint processes.

• Your respectful treatment and clear explanation are deeply appreciated, especially considering the difculty of the situation. Your empathy has not gone unnoticed, and I am truly thankful for it

Public service complaints overview

• 33% increase in complaints received
• 21.5% increase in complaints closed

• 63% of complaints about health and local authorities
• 72% of investigated complaints upheld

• 1 out of 3 KPIs met
• 5 public reports issued

Our complaints handling process

See our website for more information on how we handle complaints.

Public service complaint (PSC) caseload

We monitor casework numbers closely. This is important for our performance management and resource planning. We publish and share this information with the organisations we work with, and with other stakeholders to help support and improve complaints handling at a local level, and to reduce the numbers which escalate to us. We also use it to inform how we design our own systems and measure effectiveness.

PSCs received and carried forward

Case numbers received in 2023—24 increased by 33% in comparison to 2022—23. This significant increase in cases received means that complaint numbers are now above pre-pandemic levels. While we cannot attribute this rise to any specific issue, it is likely the impact of several factors; pressures on public service resources (financial and staffing), cost of living pressures, general dissatisfaction with public services (particularly delays), and a greater awareness of SPSO as we develop and implement our engagement and communication strategy and visibly contribute to public consultations.

Despite the substantial increase in cases received, there was only a small increase in the number of cases carried forward from the previous year, as a proportion of the total caseload for the year. This was largely as a result of increased productivity and our focus on continuing to plan and structure our approach to reducing unallocated and older cases. There was a 21.5% increase in complaints output over the year and we were successful in continuing to reduce both the number of unallocated cases and the waiting time for allocation. We were also successful in reducing the number of older cases at our assessment and investigation stages.

PSCs received

PSCs received by sector

The breakdown of public service complaints by sector remains generally consistent with previous years. Once again, health is the highest subject of complaint followed by local authorities. Nearly two-thirds of cases received were about health or local authorities. The increase in cases received was also reflected across all sectors.

As in previous years, we did not see the high number of COVID-19 related cases we anticipated and the number received continued to reduce. We received 14 cases in 2023—24 which related directly or indirectly to COVID-19.

Cases closed at assessment

PSCs closed

The number of cases closed overall rose by 21.5% following on from a 9.7% rise in 2022—23. This significant increase in complaints output reflects both the changes we made to our process to improve efficiency at the early stage of our assessment and investigation process, and the impact of the additional temporary staffing resources we received during 2022—23 which came to an end during 2023—24.

PSCs closed after assessment

Similar to last year, there was an increase in cases closed after investigating at the assessment stage (we also refer to these as cases closed after initial enquiries). In the majority of these cases, it was determined that the organisation had already investigated and responded reasonably to the complaint and that further investigation by us would not achieve anything more for the complainant (or person affected). We often seek specialist advice to inform this. This reflects our outcomes focused approach in relation to deciding how much investigation we should do on each case. In line with our value of being people centred, our focus is on the complainant, and we are open with them about the outcomes we can achieve. We know that making complaints can be stressful and if we cannot achieve more for the complainant or we cannot achieve the outcomes they are seeking, we believe it is important to confirm this early on in the assessment and investigation process.

This also reflects the positive impact of our work on good complaints handling across the Scottish public sector, especially the generally improving quality of local complaint handling. Through our investigations at this stage, we are able to assess whether or not a good local investigation has already identified learning and resulted in the action that we would have asked for in those circumstances. This means public bodies are recognised for applying the Model Complaints Handling Procedures appropriately, encouraging best practice.

PSCs closed after further investigation

We conducted 201 full investigations (a 4.7% increase on 2022—23). As a result of the increase in upheld complaints, we made more recommendations to public sector organisations. We made 496 recommendations compared to 350 in 2022—23, which represents an increase of 41.7%. You can read more about our recommendations in learning from complaints.

Premature PSCs

Premature complaint closures increased significantly this year.

These are complaints that have been submitted to us before the organisation’s complaint process has been completed. We normally return these complaints to complainants offering them advice on how to progress their complaint and when to return to our office.

We are increasingly seeing premature complaints where complainants have been attempting to navigate a public service complaints process over a number of months and are not being updated in line with the organisation’s complaints handling procedures and the SPSO statement of complaint handling principles. While we expect complaint handling timescales to be met, we also recognise that sometimes, for good reason, organisations will be unable to meet these timescales. We take this opportunity to remind organisations that where this happens, it is vital that complainants are kept informed of the reasons why and provided with a revised timescale for a response to their complaint.

Case age

We reduced the number of open cases over a year old (these are cases which have been allocated but where we have not issued a decision). This was important as we needed to create the capacity to allocate new cases, so that we could keep cases moving through our process without delay. At the start of the year, we had 141 open cases over a year old; by the end of the year, we had reduced this to 52 cases with no open case over a year old at the assessment stage of the investigation process. This reflects a 63.1% reduction. The number of cases over one and a half years old also reduced from 41 to 15 (a similar 63.4% reduction). These are cases that require further investigation and are often our most complex. Health cases involve complex medical issues requiring multiple pieces of independent advice before we can make a decision. This can take time to obtain and assess. While this reduction in older cases was positive, it has impacted on our performance against KPIs.

Achievement against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Because cases go through different routes and require different levels of investigation, we report timescales against three separate KPIs.

• PI1, which we continue to meet, measures timescales for providing advice.
• PI2 and PI3, performance improved in comparison to 2023—24 despite the challenges throughout the year that impacted on meeting these KPIs. In addition to the legacy impact of the pandemic, both KPIs were impacted by our focus on closing older cases. Whilst complaints output rose compared to previous years, the focus on closing older cases carried over from the last year resulted in a higher proportion of older cases being closed in 2023—24, impacting on PI2 and PI3. This was an anticipated effect, with a small number of older cases being carried into 2024—25.
• We have a Support and Intervention Policy which enables us to identify and support organisations not meeting the timescales for responding to our enquiries. However, we continued to experience some delays in obtaining information from public bodies which impacted on our timescales for determining cases.

Public service complaints assessment

Assessment outcomes

Details of the number of cases we assessed this year and the outcome of those cases, is set out below.

Assessment outcomes from public service complaints

Progressing PSCs

It is important to us that we tell people as soon as we can what action we can and will take on a complaint. Complainants have already spent time waiting for their case to complete the public body’s complaint process. We focus on assessing all new complaints within three working days of receiving them. As noted in first contact, we made changes to our casework management system to improve the way casework progresses when it first arrives in the office, which has improved our efficiency.

We recognise that not all cases can be prioritised or determined quickly, and these cases are held until they can be allocated to a member of staff for further, detailed assessment. We are open and honest with complainants about our delays and waiting times (and we publish information about waiting times on our website). We encourage complainants to tell us if they think their complaints should be given priority or their circumstances change.

Further reducing waiting times was a priority this year. Our waiting time fell from 20 weeks at the at the end of 2022—23 to 16 weeks at the end of 2023—24. Seen in the context of a 33% increase in cases during the same period we feel this is a good achievement. We worked hard to identify efficiencies in our processes and procedures, and piloted issuing decisions more clearly in a ‘statement of reasons format’. As a result, we successfully absorbed the increase in volume while reducing the age of cases awaiting allocation.

We intend to pilot further efficiency measures in the coming year which will enable us to absorb some (or ideally all) of the continued increase in incoming case numbers. Issuing a statement of reasons on more casework decisions should improve the accessibility of our decisions as well as help to reduce waiting times further.

Prioritising PSCs

We are driven by our value of being people centred. We identify priority cases when we receive them. This ensures we urgently progress complaints that present the highest risk, are time critical or are from members of the public in the most vulnerable circumstances. Cases identified as a priority were being allocated to a member of staff on receipt by the end of 2023—24.

Breakdown of PSCs closed after initial enquiries

Focus on resolution and alternative action

We consider from the outset, and throughout the life of a complaint, whether it can be resolved, or alternative practical action would provide a reasonable remedy. By focussing on outcomes, we identify cases where further SPSO investigation may not be the best option for the complainant (or in the public interest). We continue to build on this, particularly focusing on improving how we explain our decisions so that complainants better understand them.

We actively seek opportunities to resolve complaints because we know that it improves customer experience by providing redress more quickly and helps to rebuild relationships between complainants and public bodies. We also aim to lead by example and encourage public authorities to seek resolution during their local handling of complaints.

In 2023—24, we achieved a resolution on 51 cases, and proposed alternative action which we considered reasonable on a further 76 cases.

Impact and efficiency

We are mindful that we should still identify learning for public bodies in cases we handle, even where they are resolved or do not progress to full investigation after initial enquiries. We do this by offering and capturing feedback.

In 2022—23, we began to track and record the feedback being given, more systematically. This year, we gave 734 individual pieces of recorded feedback, more than double the number given last year. We believe that this approach encourages organisations to learn in a reflective way, and helps them be more flexible in their own complaints handling.

Public service complaints investigation

PSC investigations completed

The number of cases progressing to detailed investigation increased slightly when compared to last year. This shows that we are continuing to identify cases that require more detailed investigation, with a view to supporting learning and improvement for public bodies on those cases where this is required.

Total cases closed after investigation

• I can’t believe how hard you have worked on this for me. Thank you so much for listening and investigating… I cannot thank you enough for the incredible support you have been.

Public report investigations

We issue a public report investigation where there is evidence of significant personal injustice or hardship, systemic failure, significant complaints handling failures or it is a test / precedent case. In these cases, we lay a detailed report before the Scottish Parliament.

In 2023-24, we issued five public report investigations, up from two the previous year. This demonstrates our commitment to identifying cases where we consider there may be wider learning for other public bodies by reading the full investigation report.

Public reports and decision summaries of other investigation cases can be found in the 'Our findings' section of our website.

Uphold rate

Withdrawn and resolved complaints are not included in the uphold rate calculation.

Our uphold rate has steadily increased over the past four years. This demonstrates the effectiveness of our assessment of cases to identify those that require detailed investigation in order to achieve appropriate remedies for complainants, and to supporting learning and improvement.

Independent professional advice

To inform our consideration of some cases, including healthcare, social work and planning complaints, we obtain expert, independent advice.

Number of professional advice requests completed

There was a 23.9% increase in advice requests from last year. This is the highest number of advice requests completed in a single year since we started recorded these figures. This reflects the overall increase in cases being received by the SPSO.

We recruited 25 additional professional advisers this year. This included seven obstetrics and gynaecology advisers and six nursing advisers. During the year, 14 advisers either retired or resigned.

The average turnaround time for obtaining advice was 13.4 days. This has decreased from 14.9 days last year. During the year, we asked NHS Boards to start sharing all evidence with us electronically. This means that we can then share the evidence with advisers more quickly. This has helped to reduce the turnaround times and also to reduce courier costs.

• [I]would like to thank you and your advisors for the very thorough and considerate way in which you have handled the case [and] for the professional way you have investigated my complaint.

Closed cases that required multiple pieces of independent advice

The number of cases in which we needed to obtain more than one piece of professional / specialist advice has also continued to increase. This mainly applies to health cases where we need advice from more than one clinician. In one case this year, we needed to obtain nine separate pieces of advice in order to make a decision on one complaint. This shows the complexity of some of the complaints we receive.

Scottish Welfare Fund

• 1,352 enquiries received
• 855 reviews handled
• 64% increase in local authorities seeking advice
• 100% KPI achievement rate

Number of enquiries received

In 2023—24, we received 1,352 enquiries, which is a 9.5% reduction from last year. The additional demand in 2021—22 and 2022—23 was largely linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the height of the cost of living increases. Enquiries remained higher than they were pre-pandemic in 2019—20, when we received 821.

• 1,004 people contacted us in error when trying to contact their local Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) team (74% of all enquiries)
• 118 contacted us as their local SWF team had no freephone number, more than double compared with last year
• 26 people reported other accessibility issues such as being unable to submit their first tier review verbally despite experiencing barriers, or problems with council’s websites and phone lines
• 146 enquiries were received from local authorities seeking advice, a 64% increase from the previous year
• 20 people contacted us too early in the process and were signposted back to the local authority
• 35 people were signposted to other sources of assistance such as the Department for Work and Pensions, their utility company or other Ombudsman schemes
• 3 people reported issues with the complaint or review process

SWF reviews received and handled

Review applications received yearly comparison

^* 2023-24 - Two grant types were unclear and did not progress to review

^* 2021-22 & 2023-24 - One grant type was unclear and did not progress to review

^* The SISG was a temporary grant which ran from October 2020 to January 2023

Review applications handled yearly comparison

In 2023—24, the volume of reviews returned to levels similar to those before the peak of the cost of living crisis and the pandemic, though still lower than in 2019—20.

Compared to the previous year, CG reviews decreased by 26%. CCG reviews increased by 4%, likely due to a larger local authority adopting the HMC priority rating in December 2023.

The overall reduction in reviews is likely to be, in part, due to a reduction in SWF applications of 11% compared with 2022—23; and a reduction in first tier reviews of 5%. While the cost of living continues to be an ongoing pressure for low income households, this pressure eased in 2023—24 compared with the peak of the crisis in 2022—23. This likely contributed to the reduction of CG reviews received.

We started a series of engagement sessions in the summer of 2023—24 as capacity was released because of the decrease in review applications. These sessions targeted national networks of welfare rights officers, social workers, and individuals in the criminal justice system, who work with groups likely to apply to the SWF. We also analysed review volumes to identify which local authority areas were generating fewer reviews than expected, based on applications and first-tier review numbers.

Demand for reviews began to increase in Q4. We expect this trend to continue due to increased pressure on local authorities’ budgets, resulting in less assistance being awarded, and more disagreement with local authority’s decisions. We will monitor closely review volumes and carry out further engagement work as to ensure the review process is accessed by those who need it.

Number of SWF reviews closed at review and decision

Community Care Grant

We upheld 52.1% of CCG reviews in 2023—24, an increase of 4.4 percentage points compared with last year. We did not identify any significant trends.

Crisis Grant

In 2023—24, we upheld 15.8% of CG reviews, down by 5.2% from the previous year, the lowest in five years. The decrease is likely due to more applicants reaching the review stage after receiving their maximum number of awards (three in a 12 month period). In many cases, we agreed that the criteria for further assistance was not met. We saw fewer decisions upheld due to local authorities misinterpreting information, possibly due to the training sessions we provided in 2023.

SWF review application outcomes

Achievement against SWF KPIs

We were pleased to achieve our KPIs in 100% of reviews for both CGs and CCGs. This is particularly important given the pressing nature of situations faced by applicants.

Average SWF case handling times

All calculations are in business days and include the time for local authorities to send us their files. Local authorities have targets of 24 hours for CGs and four working days for CCGs to send their files.

Our case handling times for both grants reduced in comparison to last year. Again, this is important given the urgent nature of applications, and the length of time applicants had already waited for the council’s initial and first tier decisions.

SWF learning and improvement

We focused significant resources on improving practice in the wider delivery of the fund in the last year through

• training
• High Most Compelling support
• support to local authorities
• our Support and Intervention Policy

Training

We delivered 18 training sessions to over 500 decision makers across a range of topics, both in person and virtually. The training programme addressed issues we had observed in our case work, including assessment of the qualifying conditions for CCGs, and the exceptional circumstances criteria for CGs. We also delivered ‘train the trainer’ sessions to local authority managers and training staff to extend the reach and impact of our training. Following requests from local authorities, we delivered bespoke sessions based on topics they had identified as priorities. Positive feedback from delegates showed the value of our training.

“Thanks for all of the support and advice [you] have given. The training sessions were fantastic and very helpful!”

Support to local authorities

We continued to provide support to local authority decision makers via our 0800 telephone number and email inbox. The queries covered assessing low income, gathering proportionate evidence, and deciding which local authority should provide support when an applicant has connections to multiple local authorities. We received 146 requests for support, representing a 64% increase from last year. This demonstrates that local authorities are increasingly seeking our support. While this is positive, we have an underlying concern that this might reflect a lack of training at a local level, or a lack of clarity in Scottish Government Statutory Guidance.

Support and Intervention Policy

We escalated 18 new issues to local authorities under our Support and Intervention Policy (SIP), an increase of four from last year. These covered a range of recurring issues

• delays
• failing to show dignity and respect in case notes
• insufficient information about the decision being included in decision letters
• insufficient enquiries being made to arrive at a robust decision
• applying incorrect guidance to decline applications

One issue was escalated to level three (of six). We are pleased to report that all local authorities engaged positively with SIP interventions, leading to ongoing casework issues being resolved, and an overall improvement in practice. You can read more about SIP in Learning from complaints.

High Most Compelling (HMC) priority rating

Prior to this year, only one local authority had taken the decision to adopt the HMC priority rating since the beginning of our review service in 2016, and this was for a short period. In 2023-24, four local authorities adopted HMC due to budget concerns.

HMC is a priority rating local authorities can adopt when they are at risk of running out of funds by the end of the financial year. In practice, adopting HMC means that only the most vulnerable applicants at immediate risk without support, receive assistance. It also means that only the most vital items for setting up or maintaining a home are awarded (e.g. beds, cookers and fridges). Other items, like carpets and washing machines, are less likely to be awarded unless there are specific circumstances.

The adoption of HMC by local authorities represented a new area of casework, leading to requests for support from local authority staff. We noted that the statutory guidance did not clearly define how HMC assessments should be made, and we highlighted this to the Scottish Government. We assisted Scottish Government in drafting supporting guidance to help decision makers with the process . We also met with the relevant local authorities and delivered specific HMC training for decision makers to support them in making consistent and robust decisions.

As we gain experience with HMC, we have broader concerns regarding its implications. While we acknowledge the budgetary constraints faced by local authorities, we are mindful of the adverse impact on the living standards and wellbeing of applicants in these areas. There is already disparity in SWF priority assessments, as local authorities have the discretion to set their priority rating to low, medium, or high based on demand and resources. HMC appears to exacerbate this disparity and creates inequality compared to those in areas with standard priority ratings. This is because HMC can result in many applicants receiving no assistance, while the most vulnerable applicants receive fewer items.

Internal improvement

We successfully completed an agile project to review our procedures when applicants disengage from the review process before a decision is made. This involved liaising with the third sector and the Scottish Government. We also completed an internal project to improve our telephone interactive voice response (IVR) message, and another project to help prioritise the most urgent cases. The outcome was that as a team, we introduced additional quality measures, such as monthly peer reviews of our feedback for local authorities, and a sign-off procedure for HMC high risk cases.

Independent review of the Scottish Welfare Fund

The Scottish Government published their independent review of the Scottish Welfare Fund in March 2023. We were part of the review advisory group prior. We were also a member of the policy advisory group who compiled the corresponding action plan; a list of 22 actions across seven themes arising from the review. This was published in June 2024.

While we are contributing to several of the 22 actions, we are specifically named in the following actions

• Investigate and introduce further training for Local Authority decision-makers, in partnership with the SPSO, third sector and other agencies.
• Develop an approach, in partnership with the SPSO, for ensuring there is a commitment to learning and improvement. This will include quality measures and consistent approaches to the way in which application and review information is monitored, reviewed and reported.

Ensuring consistent SWF decision making across Scotland, and raising standards are priorities for us; based on data from our casework and the SG review finding that the local authority an applicant applies to, significantly impacts on the success of their application, even when other variables are considered.

We are pleased that several of our suggestions are being implemented, but equally, we are keen to ensure that budget constraints do not hinder the ultimate goals of the review. We are particularly focused on

• improving the accessibility of the application and first tier review process
• enhancing accountability within local authorities for reporting and monitoring review information
• emphasising the need for meaningful learning and improvement

Implementing these measures will help ensure that the fund provides a strong and reliable service for the most vulnerable people in Scotland.

Independent National Whistleblowing Officer

• 122 cases received
• 16 cases progressed to investigation
• 8 cases fully or partially upheld

Our INWO service

The Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) service started operating on 1 April 2021. Our role is to provide the final, independent review stage of how NHS organisations handle concerns under the National Whistleblowing Standards (the Standards), and to provide information and advice to people who are considering raising concerns within their NHS service.

We normally investigate INWO cases that have completed the two-stage local NHS process. We can investigate

• how the concern has been handled by the authority
• the risk or issue of concern
• the treatment of anyone involved in the local process
• the culture for raising concerns (i.e. speaking up) within the health service

On 15 December 2022, the INWO (i.e. the Ombudsman) was added to the list of Prescribed Persons, under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998. In line with this duty, a report of the disclosures raised with us, and our response to them, is included in the performance and reporting section of our website.

INWO cases received

2023-24 includes a case that was closed as a monitored referral (see below for explanation) last year has been re-opened for investigation this year.

INWO cases progressed

INWO cases closed by stage

The increase in cases progressing to investigation reflects more concerns being considered and completed at local level. Cases may come to the INWO several months after completing the local process. This reflects the length of time it can take to investigate complex situations and make improvements to services following the local investigation.

We had around 18 ongoing investigations at any given time. While this number may seem small, these investigations are sensitive, can be complex and are often resource intensive. They are not directly comparable with the other SPSO case investigation work.

The increase in case closures at investigation reflected both the increase in cases coming to us and our own increasing experience.

INWO case outcomes key figures

Advice

Initial assessment

More information on monitored referrals can be found at: https://inwo.spso.org.uk/monitored-referrals

Investigation

INWO casework themes

The issues raised in casework varied significantly. While each case is different we started to see some indications of emerging themes, including concerns about

• staff wellbeing and safe delivery of care due to staff shortages/ burn out/ excess use of agency staff
• adequacy of training of less experienced staff
• poor speak up culture, raising the risk that people don’t report concerns
• bullying and harassment, in the context of speak up culture (often in one part of an organisation), and how people perceived this impacted on the safe delivery of care and working practices
• delivery of primary care services, such as excess pressure on staff or unsafe working practices

Cases can raise issues about detriment experienced by whistleblowers (and others involved in the process) after raising concerns at the local level. We receive numerous enquiries from people whose concerns are more suitable for HR processes than whistleblowing, which means we cannot look at them. We explain this and signpost people accordingly, recognising the sensitivity.

We investigated concerns about speak up culture. These required new approaches to traditional complaint handling, so we implemented new techniques, including surveying groups of staff. Through this we identified potential issues around the need to ensure that staff feel safe and supported in raising concerns.

INWO stakeholder engagement

Our INWO team has positive and constructive relationships with stakeholders reflecting our national role in supporting the development of good practice in handling whistleblowing concerns at the local level, working closely with our Improvement Standards and Engagement team. We

• support NHS organisations in improving their own practice
• develop and run our annual Speak Up Week. This is an opportunity to engage NHS staff about the benefits of speaking up and the difference it can make within the NHS in Scotland. Importantly, it is also a fantastic way to raise awareness about the local arrangements for speaking up and to promote the role of Confidential Contacts. Read more about our work in complaints standards and stakeholder engagement.
• have produced a range of resources and guidance; this is available on our website.
• continue to work with NHS organisations to raise awareness, promote speak up culture and to support staff that implement or access the Standards.

Complaints standards

• 19% increase in requests for advice or support
• 36% requests came from the health sector
• 14% requests related to whistleblowing

Our Improvement, Standards and Engagement (ISE) team provides advice and guidance for staff handling complaints in the public sector across Scotland and also for whistleblowing practitioners delivering NHS services in Scotland. We support and promote good practice in complaints handling and the handling of NHS whistleblowing concerns, encourage the sharing of good practice among organisations, and monitor public body practice.

Monitoring practice

We monitor practice in a number of ways, including

• following up issues identified from the complaints made to SPSO and INWO
• acting on what we learn from complaints and NHS whistleblowing concerns
• monitoring themes identified from recommendations we make
• working directly with individual organisations to share and support good practice
• working with sector networks to share sector specific good practice and learning
• where necessary, conducting compliance assessments of organisations’ complaints handling procedures.

Advice to organisations

Advice and guidance we provide to organisations includes

• providing clarification to individual organisations on how to apply all parts of the Model Complaints Handling Procedure (MCHP) and the National Whistleblowing Standards (the Standards) to real-life (non-case specific) situations
• sharing tools and guidance for effective complaints handling and handling of NHS whistleblowing concerns
• contributing to sector network meetings
• delivering information sessions and workshops to individual organisations and wider stakeholder groups
• delivering Complaints Investigation Skills training on a quarterly basis to complaints handlers in the public sector
• reviewing and providing feedback about draft complaints handling procedures

Number of requests for advice or support

Types of advice requests

In 2023-24, we saw a notable increase in the total number of contacts compared to the previous year. This is partly because we now include queries from staff handling whistleblowing concerns in the NHS, reflecting the integration of this area into Complaints Standards. The total number of contacts from this area (i.e. the application of the Standards) was 48, which is an increase on the 32 enquiries from 2022—23.

We saw significant increases in requests for advice as well as in general enquiries about complaints standards matters and good practice (for both Public Service and Whistleblowing complaints). There was a notable decrease in requests for comment on or input to organisations’ complaint handling policies and practices; a trend we expected as the 2021 MCHP revision is embedded locally and there is wider experience of the Whistleblowing Standards.

Advice requests by sector

In 2023—24

• a notable difference was the increase in the number of requests from the health sector, reflecting the inclusion of contacts from whistleblowing practitioners in the NHS within our overall numbers
• we saw an increase in the volume of requests from the local authority sector, returning to similar levels from a few years ago
• we noted a decrease from the previous year in contacts classed as ‘other’.

Learning from complaints

• 20% of public service complaints closed were premature
• 496 recommendations made to public bodies
• 55% of recommendations were for learning and improvement
• 55% of recommendations were closed within target

Premature complaints by sector

• The absolute number of premature cases increased from 460 cases last year to 918 cases in 2023—24.
• Premature cases made up 20% of the total number of cases in 2023—24, 8% higher than last year.

Public service complaints uphold rates by sector

The most significant changes related to university, water, prison and housing association complaints which can be explained by the low number of cases investigated.

Overview of recommendations

Within complaint handling, and learning and improvement, we focus on the outcomes we require and the evidence demonstrating that they have been achieved. This, we believe, promotes more sustainable and embedded learning and improvement. We support this through, for example, active engagement with public bodies at networks and collaboratives.

Number of recommendations made by type

In 2023—24, we made 496 recommendations, which is a 42% increase on the number made last year. This is partly explained by the increase in total number of cases.

Relative proportions of types of recommendations remained in line with the profile of the SPSO’s workload in previous years. For example, learning and improvement have made up 50—55% of the total number of recommendations.

Number of PSC recommendations made by sector

Compliance with recommendations

We set deadlines for implementation of recommendations and follow them all up until we are satisfied that they have been implemented. We do not close a complaint until we are satisfied that recommendations have been implemented. The Ombudsman has the powers to report failure to comply with recommendations to the Scottish Parliament, but it is notable that as in previous years, we have not had any need to apply them.

Recommendation compliance by sector

Just over half of the total number of closed cases were closed within target. Just under a third of the total number of closed cases were closed a maximum of one month late.

Recommendation compliance by recommendation type

The percentage of recommendations closed on time in 2023—24 was 55%, the same as last year. Less than half of the complaint handling remedy recommendations were closed on time at 43%. In contrast, 65% of recommendations related to apologies were closed on time.

We agreed extensions to organisations in specific circumstances where they could evidence that they needed a longer timeframe to fulfil recommendations within the particular constraints at the time. Reasons for extending were often related to the capacity of the organisation to implement the actions we recommended.

Feedback to organisations by sector

In many cases, we give feedback to organisations. This ranges from positive feedback highlighting good practice or service, to feedback about issues where we have identified potential learning.

The health sector received the highest amount of feedback with the majority falling under the ‘points to note’ category. This is significantly higher than the figure for last year (177). This is likely due to the overall higher number of complaints we received during this year and the resourcing challenges facing the NHS.

Support and Intervention Policy

The Support and Intervention Policy (SIP) sets out the framework for where we offer support to organisations or intervene directly when required. Driven by our learning and improvement value, it helps us to focus our resources on public bodies who require support to help them improve their complaint handling practice or address poor performance.

There are six levels of intervention, level one being the most informal, and level six being the application of legal powers. There is more information about this on our website Support and Intervention Policy | SPSO.

We use the information and intelligence we gather to build pictures of organisations’ complaint handing practice. This enables us to target and build support around themes and trends as well as individual concerns. SIP interactions include

• further contact from one of our Complaints Reviewers enquiring about overdue information
• engagement from Improvement, Standards and Engagement team members to support learning and improvement or,
• in situations of continued non-compliance or repeated difficulties, the Ombudsman may decide to write directly to the head of the organisation or, as a last resort, issue a report to Parliament drawing their attention to the problem

Support and Intervention actions (management level)

We applied the policy to a number of organisations

• The City of Edinburgh Council (Level 3 – overdue local complaints response requiring SPSO intervention)
• The City of Edinburgh Council (Level 3 – failure to respond to SPSO enquiry)
• Fife NHS Board (Level 3 – failure to respond to SPSO enquiry)
• Forth Valley NHS Board (Level 3 – failure to respond to SPSO enquiry)
• Forth Valley NHS Board (Level 3 – incomplete response to SPSO enquiry)
• Glasgow City Council (Level 3 – failure to follow SWF Scottish Government guidance)
• Forth Valley NHS Board (Level 5 – non-completion of recommendations)

It is notable that the number of interventions at level 3 has increased since last year, and almost mirrors the numbers reported in 2021—22 (with a slight difference in the level involved). We know that organisations are facing significant challenges at the moment, particularly in relation to resourcing and we believe that this has led to increased numbers of senior level management involvement through SIP this year.

We continue to ask that organisations notify us if there are any issues affecting their ability to provide information or evidence of action taken by a certain date. If we do not receive such notification or if there are prolonged delays impacting on our casework or on individuals involved in a complaint, we will need to take action through SIP interventions to try to resolve the issue. Other examples of where we may need to take intervention action are set out in the Appendix of our SIP information leaflet. Each intervention escalated to senior management level was nevertheless successfully resolved, resulting in positive outcomes and promoting further and more meaningful engagement with organisations.

Sharing learning from complaint outcomes

In 2023—24, we shared our findings and learning with organisations and the wider public through

• summaries of our decisions are published on our website
• engagement at network meetings
• a monthly e-newsletter which signposts to our decision summaries and highlights trends and learning
• working with a variety of stakeholders such as Healthcare Improvement Scotland, sharing anonymised data to inform a wider view of public service delivery across Scotland
• publication of SWF case studies on our website

Stakeholder engagement

• Ran our second Speak Up Week campaign
• 239 delegates attended our complaints handling conference
• 221 responses received to our consultation on the Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles
• 407 people from 162 organisations completed Complaints Investigation Skills training

Through our Improvement, Standards and Engagement (ISE) team, staff from across the organisation, at all levels, engage with a range of stakeholders and organisations to provide support and advice, drive improvements in standards of complaints handling and contribute to public sector improvement.

Meetings

ISE’s complaints standards staff participated in 116 meetings and events over the year.

Engagements included

• a wide range of complaints handlers’ network groups including NHS whistleblowing-related groups
• sharing our experience with other Ombudsman offices and regulatory bodies around the UK of standardising and simplifying complaints handling procedures
• general complaints handling support across all sectors e.g. dealing with challenging behaviour, recording and reporting complaints
• attending conferences and other events to explain the Ombudsman’s four statutory roles, to promote good practice in complaints handling and the importance of learning from complaints, and to reinforce the importance of recognising people’s right to complain and to receive a good complaint handling service

We are a member of a number of sector, interest and working groups, including

• Sharing Health Intelligence Network (SHINE), working with partner scrutiny agencies to share intelligence in relation to different health boards on a regular basis
• the Administrative Justice Council (AJC) and Administrative Justice Council Steering Group (AJCSG, the Ombudsman is vice chair)

Speak Up Week 2023

We ran our second Speak Up Week this year from 2-6 October promoting the importance of speaking up confidently in a safe environment, with a particular focus on learning from concerns.

The week started with a thoughtful conversation between Rosemary Agnew, the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer, and Tracey Gillies, Executive Medical Director at NHS Lothian. They reflected on the last two and a half years of INWO and the National Whistleblowing Standards, and discussed how boards can enable confidence in speaking up and how this is supported through the INWO process. They also considered the importance of confidentiality in building confidence to speak up, and the challenges of maintaining individual confidentiality while sharing learning openly and transparently.

We also ran a live panel session that was chaired by the SPSO Director, Niki Maclean, with a General Practitioner in the NHS Tayside area, the Whistleblowing Champion at NHS Fife and the Chief Executive of NHS Orkney. Discussions highlighted the importance of how leaders and managers listen to people, as well as the need for strong and visible leadership on whistleblowing from the top of all NHS organisations.

We also shared videos on the daily themes from the INWO team throughout the week, as well as guidance on sharing learning while maintaining confidentiality and tips for reporting on learning and improvements. We saw positive and enthusiastic engagement from NHS Boards who shared INWO content widely, and showcased a variety of creative ways to mark the week and raise awareness amongst their staff. Some examples of activities that took place locally include

• stalls
• blogs on the roles of whistleblowing staff
• opportunities to engage with Executive teams
• speak up pledges
• drop in sessions with confidential contacts
• leadership development sessions

This is not just about one week, this is something we all need to work on every day, to help make the NHS a better place for everyone. We will continue the conversation throughout the year and towards Speak Up Week 2024 with the theme of ‘Enabling Speaking Up’, where we will explore how we support the growth of a healthy and sustainable speak up culture across the NHS in Scotland.

SPSO Complaints Handling Conference

The SPSO Complaints Handling Conference 2023 took place at Murrayfield Stadium on 16 November 2023. The re-launch of the SPSO conference was a key part of our 2023—24 business plan and fed into the wider focus on engagement with external stakeholders. We had 239 delegates register for tickets and 32 external speakers and SPSO staff in attendance. We collated feedback about the conference using an online feedback form. This supported our environmental goal to minimise paper used for the event. We received 66 feedback responses from delegates. The feedback from the conference was generally positive, highlighting some key areas for improvement that we will consider in our planning for the 2025 conference

• provide more guidance, advice, tools, and case studies to help delegates learn and reflect
• increase networking opportunities
• expand the project plan file and share it with key internal stakeholders
• explore options for automated ticket sales and post-sale communication
• expand use of Slido and explore other digital technologies to reduce environmental impact and increase accessibility
• contract a venue with more suitable space arrangements for delegates and speakers

Child Friendly Complaints

2023-24 saw the continuation of our multiyear project to develop a new, child friendly approach to handling complaints for public bodies under our jurisdiction. The aim of the project has been to co-design and implement a public sector complaints service that is compliant with the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which meets children’s rights and needs, working in co-operation with children and young people, public bodies and wider stakeholders.

The project has followed a rights based approach, placing children’s rights under the UNCRC at the centre of our work.

On 16 January 2024, the UNCRC Incorporation (Scotland) Act 2024 received royal assent, meaning Scottish public bodies’ new duties to act compatibly with the UNCRC will come into force on 16 July 2024. By then we expect to have parliamentary approval for our new Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles, which will become part of our Statement of Complaints Handling Principles. We also expect to have published our new Child Friendly Complaints Handling Process Guidance, which provides detailed guidance for how to apply the principles in practice.

Pilot

Between June and December 2023, we carried out a pilot of the new process. This pilot was open to all public bodies to participate in and we received feedback from a range of organisations and sectors. We partnered with Aberdeen City Council, who trialled the new process in complaints involving children. Thank you!

The feedback we received from the pilot was largely positive, indicating that the process was manageable in practice and resulted in children feeling listened to.

Public consultation

In February 2024 we launched a public consultation on the Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles. We received 221 responses, which included

• 158 individuals
• 63 organisations
• 5 children’s rights organisations
• 16 local authorities
• 14 education authorities
• 12 health boards
• 3 housing associations

We made a number of changes to the Principles based on the feedback received through the consultation. They were then submitted to the Scottish Parliament for approval on 20 April 2024.

Next steps

We plan to launch our Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles and Child Friendly Complaints Handling Process Guidance on 16 July 2024.

Training

We offer two external training modules to bodies under our jurisdiction in Scotland

• our Good Complaints Handling training (GCH). This is an accredited, self-guided, online course aimed at staff handling complaints at stage 1 of the MCHP and is accessible directly through the SPSO website
• our trainer-led Complaints Investigation Skills training (CIS). This course, aimed at staff who investigate complaints at stage 2 of the MCHP, is a one-day course run quarterly and delivered by expert trainers from across the SPSO, including colleagues who investigate PSC complaints

Good Complaints Handling course

• 464 people from 97 organisations registered for the course.

Organisations by sector completing GCH training

Feedback received

• really good, informative and interactive course
• videos, voice over and regular testing to keep you engaged worked well
• maybe examples of complaints somewhere in it like a case study

Complaints Investigation Skills course

• 407 people from 162 organisations completed the training.
• We delivered 29 courses across the year.

Organisations by sector completing CIS training

Feedback received

• I liked the pacing, with some time spent presenting, some time in discussion and some time in breakout rooms. It was a good mix
• I found the whole course to be of use to me in my current role. It also provided me with the skills to support other members of the wider college in undertaking their roles
• referencing and discussing the real example complaint & evidence documents worked well
• the breakout rooms were very short and probably didn’t have enough time to complete [the task]

Accessibility

Accessibility is at the heart of SPSO’s strategic themes, values, and service standards. It is recognised by all staff as their individual responsibility when developing, delivering and adapting SPSO’s service.

We are committed to making our service accessible, demonstrating this in our communication with individuals and continuous improvement.

We aim to ensure that no-one experiences barriers when using our service and that we treat people with dignity and respect.

Adapting our service during the customer journey

When first contacting our office, we ask people how we can best communicate with them and if they need us to adjust our approach for them. We understand that individual needs may change over time. Our complaint handling staff follow our vulnerabilities guidance and are attentive to any necessary adjustments, regularly checking in with service users to ensure their needs are met.

Inclusion Diversity Equality and Accessibility staff interest group

We have an Inclusion Diversity Equality and Accessibility (IDEA) staff interest group with members from across the organisation. The IDEA group addresses various inclusion issues to ensure our services are accessible to a diverse range of users.

In 2023—24, we launched several initiatives to enhance our service and deepen our understanding of inclusion, diversity, equality, and accessibility. These initiatives included the following.

Staff Awareness, training and information events

• Samaritans led training for all staff in recognition of suicide prevention day
• Pride month
• dyslexia/dyspraxia training event
• neurodiversity information events
• meeting with Patient Advice and Support Service who advocate for complainants who have a complaint about NHS services
• meeting with Independent Prison Monitors who provide a visiting support service within HMP establishments

Identifying and supporting vulnerability in people accessing public services workshop

In collaboration with the Professor Chris Gill (University of Glasgow) and Professor Naomi Creutzfeldt (Kent University) we hosted a workshop to explore how public service providers can be empowered to provide better support to vulnerable people who use their services. This supported the work they were doing to develop tools and resources to assist public service providers in recognising when service users experiencing vulnerability need extra help to access services and to suggest appropriate ways to give support for those needs.

The workshop brought together a range of colleagues with first-hand experience of supporting vulnerable individuals, including public service providers, advice and advocacy bodies, and charities.

The aim of the workshop was to engage with and learn from those who work directly with individuals and groups experiencing vulnerability. This was done to better understand lived experiences and identify effective strategies to help public service providers offer appropriate support.

We continued to work with both universities who have developed workshop materials due to be launched in June 2024.

Communications activities

Website development

In keeping with our focus on accessibility, as part of our website development project, we hired an external agency to conduct an accessibility audit using both automated and manual tests by users with disabilities. Following the audit, we made several improvements

• added an 'accessibility checker' to flag issues like missing alternative text on images
• assigned correct controls to page elements (e.g. tables, boxes, buttons) for assistive readers
• increased font size and line spacing
• improved the search function

We also ran a session on accessibility of documents at our all staff business planning day on 5 March 2024.

Development work on our website will continue in 2024—25.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion webpage

We launched a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion webpage which outlines our commitment to ensuring equal access to our services. The page details accessibility measures, support for vulnerable individuals, and adjustments for specific needs. It highlights the steps we take to eliminate discrimination, promote equality, and foster good relations. It also emphasises our inclusive hiring practices and outlines the work of the IDEA group.

Complaint forms

We developed a new health complaint form taking into account trauma informed principles. Read more on this in first contact.

We have also reviewed our paper complaint forms for all SPSO services. This ensures that service users who prefer to submit complaints by mail are not digitally excluded and receive consistent information.

Customer service

• 122 complaints received
• 31% of complaints upheld
• 93% of upheld complaints were about communication
• 13 cases were taken to independent review

Our customer service standards are driven by and mirror our values, learning and improvement in a strong focus to ensure measurable impact. Our recommendations reflect this drive and our commitment to supporting public service improvement.

The SPSO has three broad customer service commitments

• effective communication
• working in an open and fair way
• carrying out their duties competently and responsibly

We use data to inform, develop and support our ongoing commitment to providing high-quality services that meet or exceed our customer service commitments. We firmly believe that data maturity holds the key to continually raising our standards and performance.

We utilise and review all forms of feedback; this includes information from user satisfaction survey responses, customer service complaints, compliments and unsolicited feedback.

Customer service complaints

We hold ourselves to the same high standards as we hold public bodies. Our customer service complaints (CSC) process has the same two-stage process as the Model Complaints Handing Procedure (MCHP), except instead of signposting to the Ombudsman for review, we have a contract in place with an Independent Customer Service Complaints Reviewer (ICSCR) to whom we signpost complainants at stage three.

Our CSC numbers have dropped slightly from last year, which we believe is a direct link to our internal focus on learning and improvement, and the reduction in delays in allocating complaints.

Total received yearly comparison

Total closed yearly comparison

Customer service complaints received quarterly breakdown

Number of CSC cases closed and uphold rates

Quarterly complaints remained fairly consistent over the year, with a slight rise in Q4 due more cases being escalated to stage 2. However from these cases, none were upheld with only one being escalated to stage 3.

Our uphold rate is based on fully and partially upheld cases. We drill down into this data to identify learning themes.

We analysis our CSC data quarterly to ensure we are learning from complaints. We measure ourselves against our service standards which supports our improvement and training functions.

Uphold rates by CSC subject

CSC Outcomes

Our uphold rate has reduced this year, but is in line with pre-pandemic levels. The higher uphold rates we previously seen are from complaints about timeliness, related to our backlog caused by the pandemic. This year our staff have worked tirelessly to reduce the backlog and increase customer satisfaction.

SPSO staff use consistent language and processes to help complainants achieve early resolution or escalate to a customer service complaint if needed. All staff are empowered to resolve complaints as close to the point of service delivery as possible.

We consider resolution conversations to be a positive contributor in response to increasing awareness, demonstrating that we value complaints and holding ourselves to high customer service standards.

Some complaints may need approaches other than investigation, and staff are encouraged to use alternative complaint resolution methods when appropriate.

Timescales

We aim to respond to customer service complaints in line with the timescales set out in the MCHP.

The timescales to close complaints are

• 5 working days at stage 1
• 20 working days at stage 2 (complaints that bypass stage 1 because they require a detailed investigation at stage 2)
• 20 working days for ‘escalated’ complaints (complaints considered at stage 1, that progressed to stage 2 because the complainant remained dissatisfied)

Performance against timescales

• Stage 1 average time to close does not include 1 case open for 141 days
• Stage 2 oldest case includes 1 case open for 155 days

Two cases were open for significantly longer than others due to reasons outwith our control. These two cases contributed to the high total number of working days.

• Stage 1 performance remains over 90% for the second year in a row exceeding the timescale, the average working days to close these reduced to 3.1 days.
• Stage 2 performance also remains high for the second year in a row at 88% exceeding the timescales, the average working days to close these reduced to 14.7 days.

Independent Customer Complaints Reviewer (ICSCR)

Similar to the review function in the public service complaints process, the ICSCR reviews and investigates complaints about SPSO’s customer service complaints handling where customers remain unhappy with either the outcome or how we handled it at stage 2. The ICSCR process is completely independent and provides a full and timely response to complaints. The ICSCR’s role is to provide assurance that the SPSO have robust arrangements for handling customer service complaints in line with our policy and procedures, and that complainants have the opportunity for review by someone outside of the organisation.

Matters relating to the substance of the SPSO’s decisions on complaints about public bodies are not within the ICSCR’s remit.

In 2023—24

• 13 CSC cases were taken to stage 3 and reviewed by the ICSCR

• the average time for the ICSCR to make a final decision from receipt was 29 days
• the oldest case (42 days) was only 2 days over the target of 40 working days

In 2023—24 the ICSCR will continue to provide quality assurance overview by undertaking a random review of customer service complaint files during the year. A selection of sampled cases will allow the ICSCR to identify learning opportunities and suggest recommendations to help drive improvements within our service.

The finding from this review will be published on our website as with previous years and the learning will be shared across the organisation to support internal training and development.

Positive feedback

We are committed to offering the public a high-quality service. Our customer service standards demonstrate the service members of the public can expect from SPSO staff.

These standards apply to all functions within our organisation. When our teams receive unsolicited feedback, we record and analyse this against our standards which contributes to our internal learning and improvement. The following are examples of unsolicited feedback received during 2023—24 across all teams.

• First of all, I would like to thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into investigating my case for me. Thank you again for looking into this for me and for keeping me updated along the way. You have been very easy to deal with and have always kept me informed, I can’t explain how much I appreciate that
• Thank you very much for all the time you have spent considering my application for a review. Your letter makes clear the complexity of the rules under which the system works and I very much appreciate the difference the award [is] going to make to my mental state and ability to rebuild my life
• Thank you for the update. I'm satisfied with the outcome and hope the required actions will help support and protect children and their families in the future. Thank you for your caring and professional approach to this matter. It is very much appreciated by myself and my family
• Your advice today on the phone and by email two days ago has been life changing. You don’t know how appreciated you are and I don’t think you will hear that enough. I have been trying to go through the complaints process for months and only by taking your advice I am now at stage one. Thank you – I am so glad I know about your service now. You even called me back when you said you would

Managing the organisation: casework assurance

• 9% increase in public service complaint reviews received
• 89% of public service complaints decisions remained unchanged
• 98% of review requests responded to within 90 days

Managing the organisation: equality monitoring

Service users voluntarily complete the SPSO equality form when they access our service. This year, 56% of people completed the form, and there were good completion rates for individual questions. This means that, while not all users complete a form and many only complete some categories, for the larger categories we can reasonably assume that our data is representative of our users as a whole.

The data shows that our users, when compared to the available population data, appear to be (general population data for Scotland is included in brackets)

• more likely to be from a minority ethnic group: 16% (12%) (The census includes all categories other than White Scottish and White British in this category)
• more likely to be Asian: 8% (4%)
• broadly representative by gender: 52% female (51%)
• more likely to identify as disabled. 52% told us they have a long-term condition that limits their day to day activities – the closest comparators are 37%-48%.
• 78% of SWF applicants who completed the form said a long-term condition limited their ability to undertake day to day activities, with 50% saying they are limited a lot
• the condition most frequently reported by applicants was mental health condition
• more likely to be aged 25-44 when bringing us a public service complaint: 42% (25%)
• more likely to be aged between 25-44 when applying for a welfare fund review: 66% (30%)
• more likely to identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual or other: 9% (4%)
• 79% of people completing the form did so on their own behalf with one in five either being completed by someone representing someone else (18%) or with help from someone else (3%).
• a small minority (32 users) told us their gender was different to that registered at birth (this category includes non-binary)
• 6% told us English was not their main language (6% Scotland) and 5% of users said they could use BSL (2.2% Scotland)

The data we collect plays a vital role in enhancing our understanding of our users and their requirements, shaping how we design and provide our services. It informs our strategic plan (for example, one of four strategic themes is accessibility) and on an annual basis, our business plan. When we make a policy decision, we consider the impact on equalities and this data is used as part of our equality impact assessments.

Managing the organisation: openness and transparency

Freedom of information and environmental information requests

Subject access requests (SAR)

We continued to see an increase this year in requests for information and personal data, with the highest number of subject access requests (for personal data) recorded to date. The majority of requests continue to relate to our casework, and the increase we have seen can most likely be attributed to the increase in casework.

Where we carried out SAR reviews, the majority of these wholly or partially upheld our original decision, which continues to give us confidence in our decisions. There was one review of a SAR where we determined that we had missed some information because of how we had originally interpreted the request.

We responded to 96% of requests and reviews within the statutory timescales, the same percentage as last year. Half of the requests responded to outwith timescales were over by one day only.

We continue to adopt the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme and publish a guide on our website to the information that we make available, which we review, and update where necessary.

We use data in a way that is fair. We are clear, open and honest about how we will use data, and comply with the transparency obligations of the right to be informed. We provide information in a way that is concise; transparent; intelligible; easily accessible; and uses clear and plain language. We review, and update our information where necessary.

Managing the organisation: our team

Overview

Our objective is to be acknowledged for having well trained, properly supported people, who have the tools they need to deliver our services. We strive to have the capacity, financial, human and infrastructure, to implement and deliver our statutory functions. In 2023-24 we

• maintained Living Wage Employer accreditation
• maintained accreditation for Investors in People Gold status
• maintained membership to the Employer’s Network for Equalities and Inclusion
• started supporting the Scottish Human Rights Commission as part of a shared service arrangement
• continued to support the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner as part of a shared service arrangement

• launched mandatory training for Display Screen Equipment, Cyber Security and Data Protection through the Learning Hub, our digital platform for learning and development
• developed and delivered a programme of learning and development activities to encourage and support our colleagues’ skills and knowledge
• continued to deliver a broad range of activities to support staff to achieve a balance of work and life and positive health and wellbeing
• concluded the trial of hybrid working in June 2023, we collected staff feedback and reported on the trial, developing a draft Hybrid Working Policy to be consulted on with the trade union

Staff numbers

Our workforce was an average of 80 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) for 2023—24. In previous years we have grown with each new area of jurisdiction added to the Ombudsman’s statutory responsibilities but this year our baseline numbers remained the same as last year (80 FTE 2022—23).

This year saw the end of contracts for the five additional Complaints Reviewers that were brought in to fill temporary fixed-term vacancies to support our pandemic recovery plans.

Diversity

We continue to monitor and develop our approach to recruitment, selection and promotion so that it follows good practice across all diversity and equality strands. We monitor all aspects of diversity of our workforce on an ongoing basis. On 31 March 2024

• 77% of employees in the organisation were female
• 23% were male (not including seconded and temporary staff) (76:24 in 2022—23)
• Two of the three members of our leadership team are female
• 73% of our management team are female (82% in 2022—23)

Health, safety and wellbeing

This year we continued to prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and the public. We have worked hard to keep people connected and supported as we trialled hybrid arrangements and we continued our focus on health and wellbeing across the organisation. We recognise the benefits of more flexibility and self-determination about where and when we work, and staff are able to come into the office five days per week if they want to. Equally, we recognise and respect that our colleagues and service users have needs which need to be balanced with individual choice, and require some attendance in person. We have reviewed the trial of hybrid working (which ended in June 2023) and developed a long term policy based on feedback from across the organisation. At the end of this year, the draft policy was under consultation and we will be publishing it in the new business year.

Training and development

We continued to meet the people development needs of the organisation through a range of activities. We carried out annual Performance Development Planning and Review cycles with all staff to support them with their learning, knowledge and development needs throughout the year.

Learning and development activities were delivered around key areas including casework handling, digital skills, mandatory training such as cyber security, H&S and data management, and personal development. In March 2024, we had our all staff business planning meeting in person which was an opportunity for everyone to get together, collaborate and strengthen relationships between colleagues and teams.

Staff survey

The SPSO conducts an annual staff survey and the summary reports are published on our website.

Each year the staff survey results, along with our IIP assessment findings, are combined to create an annual action plan to ensure we maintain our focus on commitment to building a people-centred organisation.

2023-24 survey highlights:

• 81% response rate
• 90% of questions scored above 70% positive with 31% scoring above 90% positive
• scores improved in 24 out of 85 questions compared to the last survey
• the most improved score was under the theme of internal relations (improved by 1% on average) with no change in 3 survey themes (your job, management, corporate social responsibility)
• health and wellbeing was the highest scoring theme (91% on average)

Collaboratives, working groups, work streams

A number of staff-led, cross-team working groups continued over the last year to promote and support interaction, cooperation and knowledge sharing across the organisation. The groups established include communities of practice, Health and Wellbeing, Climate Change and a Corporate Social Responsibility group that incorporates our charity work and other social and community collaborations.

The Future Working Group led the review and analysis of the trial of hybrid working arrangements. The group collated feedback both through formal surveys and informal discussion within teams which was shared at the regular Future Working meetings and communicated to the leadership team to inform policy development.

Community, social and human rights

Many of our staff are involved in community and social rights engagement activities outside of work, including volunteering for

• Children’s Hearings Scotland
• the Law Society of Scotland’s Regulatory committee
• Four Square, a charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
• Ochil Youth Community Improvement, a local youth led charity

Throughout the year the Wellbeing Action Group planned events and activities each month to observe different causes to support wellbeing. For example, in May 2023 we championed mental health awareness week with activities and communications to raise awareness about anxiety.

Managing the organisation: governance and shared corporate services

Overview

While we lay our complete Annual Report and Financial Statements as a single document before the Scottish parliament, it is the Performance report we most often share and refer to in other documents and presentations. This section gives you a flavour of performance explored further in our Accountability Report and Financial Statements.

Shared Services

We have a co-location arrangement with the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC), the Children and Young People Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner (SBC) which enables us to share common services such as facilities, health, safety and security management, postal services, and shared areas such as larger meeting rooms and a common kitchen.

In addition to providing SBC and SHRC with co-location facilities, shared services were extended to provide corporate service administration for finance, a full HR service, and other support functions.

These shared services will be extended to the new Patient Safety Commissioner when the organisation is in place in 2024—25.

Environmental and sustainable development

Since 2015—16 we have reduced our carbon footprint by more than 30%, Our total emissions equate to 0.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) per FTE employee or 0.03 (tCO2e) per m2 floor space we occupy. SPSO takes part in Scotland’s Climate Week each year and in 2023—24 organised events to increase awareness of climate change and the biodiversity crisis.

Further details of carbon emission reductions and the actions we are taking to reduce our emissions are in our Climate Change Duties Reports on our website.

Biodiversity

SPSO does not own or manage land and therefore has limited opportunity to carry out activities for biodiversity. Further details are in our Environment, Sustainability and Biodiversity report on our website.

Cyber Security

We manage our digital services closely to protect the sensitive personal data and confidential data we hold, and to ensure our systems remain robust and resilient. Cyber security remains one of our most significant risks.

In 2023—24, we continued implementing the Cyber Resilience Public Sector Action Plan, assessing our cyber resilience arrangements against the Scottish Government Cyber Resilience Framework Tool and renewing Cyber Essentials accreditation in December 2023. SPSO utilise SCOTS Connect to host our network services to provide a safe and secure digital environment. SCOTS is the Scottish Government’s range of managed IT services and products that hold Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. Our staff receive regular updates and training in relation to cyber risks.

ICT

In 2023—24, we consolidated our hybrid working arrangements, with all staff working from the office and from home. This has accelerated the adoption of further projects to support electronic working to ensure we continue to provide our service in an efficient and secure IT environment. These included

• continuing development of our casework management system to improve efficiency, paper light working and data security
• implementation of an image exchange portal to improve electronic sharing of medical imaging
• continued upgrades to IT systems

Financial position

Financial overview

Expenditure area £000

^* Includes £623k for Bridgeside House shared accommodation expenditure, managed on behalf of four Scottish Parliament funded organisations

Financing from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) £000

There is more information on our financial performance and outturn in the Accountability Report and Financial Statements.

Looking forward

We are continuing the journey we started last year in improving complaint handling times and the number of cases awaiting allocation. In particular we will continue to reduce both the age and number of unallocated public service complaints. We have already seen the benefits and impact of our work, for example in the reduction of customer service complaints about delay.

As with previous years we have set ourselves an ambitious business plan which can be found on our website. Although ambitious, it is achievable if resources and workload remain constant and as planned, although increasing public service complaint volumes are a concern. While we will continue with agile projects to improve efficiency and find new ways of delivering our service, the risk of being unable to absorb increasing case numbers is growing.

Significantly, 2024—25 sees a shift towards more rights based approaches to complaint handling as we implement and monitor the Child Friendly Complaints Principles and case handling approaches.

We start the year with a new strategic plan. While our values remain the same, we have updated our strategic themes and strategic objectives.

Strategic themes

We will live our values through four strategic themes that drive our activity and annual business plans

There is more information about our strategic objectives in our strategic plan.

Our business activity is routed in our strategic themes, aims and values. In the coming year, our overarching themes are

• engaging with stakeholders more effectively, particularly in driving rights based approaches
• efficiency
• identifying and reporting impact using our data more effectively
• supporting and developing our staff

Ongoing commitments

We will

• launch a project to review model complaints handling procedures, starting with the co-design of rights based complaints handling principles
• continue to improve the accessibility of our services through embedding trauma informed approaches and adapting our service for people experiencing vulnerability
• continue to develop and support good complaint handling by Scottish public services through our training provision and Support and Intervention Policy, extending this to INWO cases
• launch our new strategic plan and strategic risk register
• maintain our excellent performance in delivery of the SWF review service and push for change through the development of the Scottish Government’s SWF guidance, and reporting on our experience from the High Most Compelling priority rating
• deliver our public service complaints service, endeavouring to meet our customer service standards and performance targets, while achieving good outcomes for complainants and driving public service improvement
• launch child friendly complaints approaches and monitor implementation. We will also introduce child friendly approaches for our own public service complaints handling
• continue to refine and deliver our INWO service, particularly in relation to supporting organisations to develop a speak up culture
• maintain and support staff health and wellbeing, and supportive working practices
• continue to develop our approach to data management and cyber security
• more actively engage with stakeholders across all our functions, supported by a clear communication and engagement strategy
• manage the organisation efficiently and effectively to achieve value for money
• continue to deliver and developed the shared services we provide for other parliamentary office holders
• prepare for the arrival of a new Ombudsman in 2025.

And finally

Back to where this report started. I am entering my last full year as the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. It is not yet the time for farewells, but it is the last opportunity I have to say in an annual report, a heartful thanks to my wonderful team; for their dedication, commitment, skill, creativity and resilience in sharing a journey that has included new functions, a pandemic and major changes in the way we and public bodies deliver our services. Thank you.

Rosemary Agnew Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
8 October 2024