Question reference: S6W-26478
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 28 March 2024
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Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current waiting time is for a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to be allocated to a complaints reviewer, and what the average length of time is for the conclusion of such a review.
Answer
All cases the SPSO receive are currently subject to an initial review within 5 working days. Cases are triaged and priority cases (categorised for example by a complainant’s vulnerability or immediate health issues) which are considered to require further investigation are allocated as soon as possible. SPSO are committed to ensuring no priority cases remains unallocated for more than 4 weeks. Cases which require further investigation but are not deemed high priority are currently being allocated within 4 months. The SPSO aims to let people know their decision within 80 working days and in 2023-24 this was achieved in 61% of cases. At 2023-24 year-end, the number of open cases (cases allocated but not yet having a full decision issued) reduced from 141 to 52 when compared to the previous year, a 63% reduction.