Statistics 2014-15

Introduction

In 2014-15, the SPSO

• received 772 enquiries and 4,895 complaints (10% more complaints than last year)
• dealt with a total of 4,802 complaints (9% more than last year), including some carried forward from 2013-14

Headline figures

We continue to see rising levels of complaints, with 10% more complaints reaching us during 2014-15 than in the previous year.

Although the numbers are rising, the proportion of cases that reached us without having first gone through the public organisation's complaints process remained at the same level as 2013-14, at 34%.

Upheld complaints are those that were valid for us to investigate, and that we fully or partly upheld. The overall level of these also remained stable at 50% in 2014-15, the same proportion as we upheld in 2013-14.

2014-15 statistics by authority

The Ombudsman sends some authorities an annual letter about their complaint numbers.
This year the Ombudsman is asking organisations to confirm to him that the learning from SPSO complaints has been discussed at a senior level by signing and returning a learning and improvement statement. The aim is to ensure that lessons are being learned and mistakes are not repeated.

Ombudsman's letter and learning and improvement statement (PDF, 182KB).