For the public:
- Complain about a public service
- Experiencing delays or difficulties complaining to a public service
- Make a general enquiry
- Complain about the service you received from SPSO
For organisations:
- Ask for advice on complaints standards or complaints handling in your organisation
- Enquire about SPSO training
- Complain about the service you received from SPSO
Other
Working with us: respecting each other
We are committed to providing a fair and accessible service. We believe that everyone who contacts us has the right to be treated with respect and dignity.
We will do our best to engage with you positively and use the best method for you.
Tell us if something is going wrong
- We want to fix problems and to know if you are unhappy.
- Please tell us; we will check what we have done against our standards and make changes if we can.
Remember we are people too
- Our staff have the same rights to be treated with respect and dignity as our users, and we must provide a safe working environment for them.
- We must also provide a service to all our customers.
This means we need to handle any situation or actions which could have a negative impact on our staff or our ability to work. We may need to speak with you about this or we may need to change the way we engage with you. If this happens, we will explain what we are doing and why. Details of our policy about this can be found here, or we can send you a copy of this policy on request.
Call us
Call our Freephone line on 0800 377 7330.
This line is open during the following hours:
Monday: 9am – 1pm
Tuesday: 1pm – 5pm
Wednesday: 9am – 1pm
Thursday: 1pm – 5pm
Friday: 9am – 1pm
Our Assessment & Guidance team will be available to answer general enquiries or for advice on how to make a complaint. Calls outside of these hours can be arranged by appointment using our online contact form.
Calls to and from SPSO phone lines may be recorded to check the quality of our service and help us do our job to help you. More details are in the privacy notice. Please ask if you want to confirm if a call is or is not being recorded or if you would like us to pause recording during a call.
BSL users can call us via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the online British Sign Language interpreting video relay service.
Find out more on the contactSCOTLAND website.
Post
Our address is:
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH7 4NS
[NB: If you would like to request a Freepost envelope from us, please contact us on 0800 377 7330 or via our contact form.]
In person
If you would like to visit our office in person, you must arrange an appointment first by phoning 0800 377 7330 or using our online contact form. We will not accept visitors without an appointment.
We are open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-5pm; Tuesday 10am-5pm.
Accessibility
If you require our communications in other languages and formats (such as large print, BSL or Braille), please visit our Accessibility webpage or contact the Assessment and Guidance team directly.
If you are visiting us in person, Bridgeside House is wheelchair accessible. There is an access ramp from the street to the building doorway and a video intercom which is at an accessible height. The building also has a lift.
There is metered on-street parking directly outside the front of Bridgeside House and a dropped kerb to the right of the building where McDonald Road meets Papermill Wynd.